Some Juba traders at Jebel market are counting losses running into millions of money after dawn fire engulfed their shops on Tuesday, February 23.

According to traders who spoke to The City Review, fire broke out at 4am consuming chains of business such as timber yards, retail shops and hardwares in the area.

The traders said their frantic efforts to put out the fire bore no fruits. And, when they called the fire brigade, the team responded after two hours making it hard to salvage their valuables.

Muberu Friday is reeling from the shock of losing an eight-year old job that went down the drain in minutes. He told The City Review how he received shocking news at the time he was a helpless man who could not rescue anything.

“I woke up running to the workshop only to see our timber [furniture] on fire. We tried putting off the fire but we could not even manage until at around 6 am when the fire brigade came in,’’ he said, adding: “Furniture from different shops got burnt.’’

According Friday, the shop that he worked at alone lost approximately US$50,000 worth of furniture.

Having been a long-serving carpenter and a family man, Friday’s fortunes tumbled and he is currently in pursuit of a new job to keep his family going in Uganda.

Another victim was Joy Keji, a 25-year old young woman married to a police officer, and a provider of a family comprising 10 people. 

Keji—who resides in Kurwiliang in Juba— ran a small shop and a side charcoal business. She woke up to the sad news not knowing what to do next.  Her son had been sleeping in the shop and she feared for the worst-losing him.

“I woke up and started my journey to the market, but I was confused, I started thinking about my son because he sleeps in the shop, when I reached the market all I could see was the fire flames and a lot of smoke. My shop was already down I started calling my son’s name and the police men told me your son is safe,” she narrated.

“He didn’t even realise that there was fire until when the policemen came to wake him up at the time when the shop’s roof had caught fire,’’ she further narrated.

Albeit relieved that her son was safe, Joy had lost all she had in the fire.

“I had over one hundred sacks of charcoal and you know nowadays charcoal is very expensive. For example, one sack costs SSP4,000. I have made a great deal of loss and now here I am from having something little to nothing,” she lamented.

A rough estimate shows that Keji lost approximately SSP400,000 in the fire. Traders are still in the dark over the possible cause of the fire and cling to the hope that officers will do an investigation as they pick up the pieces.