The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has temporarily closed down the New Kejetia Market following Tuesday evening's fire outbreak that gutted a textile shop on the first floor of the market.

The decision to close down the 300,000-capacity market with over 8,400 shops was arrived at following closed consultations between KMA and managers of the New Kejetia Market.

City Mayor, Osei-Assibey Antwi who gave the directive says this is to allow personnel of the Fire Service and other technicians inspect and satisfy themselves with fire and safety installations in the market.

According to him, the market will be opened on Wednesday at about 11:00 a.m only after Fire Service personnel, electrical engineers and cleaners have cleaned and test-run the facility.

"Tomorrow the facility would be opened around 11 o'clock because we want the Fire Service personnel to move around and also allow the electricians to also move around to ascertain, and the cleaners to also move around because within the twinkle of an eye, people were rushing in and therefore we wouldn't know whether somebody has touched a place he shouldn't have touched," he announced.

"So they want to use that almost about  4-5 hours to do that job; clean the area, certify the area and allow anybody to do his job," he said.

A swift intervention by fire officers prevented what could have been one of the biggest fire incidents in the Garden City, as a textile shop caught fire at the New  Kejetia Market.

Personnel from Fire Service responded swiftly to a distress call from a trader to douse the blaze at about 18:15 hours.

Electrical and fire installations such as automatic sprinklers, water hoses and water hydrants installed at the new market were said to have contributed to swift Fire Service response to bring the situation under control.

The conduct of the fire personnel has earned them an applause from the Kumasi Mayor, Ossei-Assibey who was at the scene.

"It was one shop that was in flames but with the timely intervention of the firefighters and with also the sprinklers working as well as the hydrant working, we were able to quench the fire."

"In fact, in  Kumasi, we are so fortunate that we have expert fire service personnel. The regional commander and metro fire commander. Look at the expertise that they just exhibited now.

"Everybody here was applauding them," he said.

Asked if the assembly will prosecute persons found to have contributed to the fire, Mr. Osei-Assibey told Joy News that the assembly is yet to take a decision on that.