A fire in the town of Hargeisa, in northern Somalia, destroyed a large market Friday night. At least 20 people were injured. This is reported by the AFP news agency. Hundreds of stalls and shops were destroyed by the fire.
Images via social media show large flames and black clouds over Hargeisa. “The city has never seen such a disaster,” said Mayor Abdikarim Ahmed Moge. “The market was the economic center of Hargeisa and despite all the efforts of the firefighters, the market has been destroyed.” It is not yet known how the fire, which started Friday evening and was extinguished Saturday morning, could have started. Friday night was the start of Ramadan. Hargeisa, with more than a million inhabitants, is the capital of the autonomous region of Somaliland in northern Ethiopia.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised on Twitter to help the region. He wrote that he was “sad about the aftermath of the fire in Hargeisa, which destroyed the open market, the economic heart of the city, affecting many small and family businesses.”