By Umaru Fofana
Hundreds of Sierra Leoneans living in the Guinean capital, Conakry, were left in tears on Wednesday as they watched helplessly while their homes and lifesavings went up in flames.
It is not exactly clear what caused the fire in the makeshift community of mainly Sierra Leonean fishermen and their families, but the cost has been put at hundreds of millions of leones.
The president of the Sierra Leone Fishermen’s Association, Sheku Jawara told Politico from Conakry that “it’s a serious problem and big setback for our community but thankfully no one died or got seriously injured”.
He said it was hard to estimate the cost of the damage but put it around Le 200 million. He said items left mangled and smoldered included freezers, television sets and cash savings of the fishermen some of whom are local boat owners and are “well to do”.
On the source of the fire, he said initial indications were that someone was frying eggs in one of the apartments which set off the inferno.
He appealed for assistance for charity organisations especially because some of the victims had suffered a similar tragedy in 2018 even if with a consequence he said was less severe.
The severity of Wednesdays’ fire prompted Sierra Leone’s Ambassador in Conakry, Alimamy Hassan Bangura to visit the scene.
He said his compatriots also lost their fishing gear in the slum community called Colleya which is perched on the Conakry coastline. It is nicknamed Vietnam because of the way the houses are built on wood like some people do in the Asian country.
Ambassador Bangura donated 10 bags of rice and some cash to temporarily cushion the effect on the victims.
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