A near-fatal fire broke out at the Royal VVIP Bus Terminal near the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange in Accra on January 20, 2026, destroying over 50 makeshift shops and apartments.

The blaze, suspected to have been caused by an electrical fault, left a trail of destruction, and properties worth millions of cedis were lost.

Firefighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) battled the inferno for hours, facing significant challenges as the flames had already spread rapidly by the time they arrived.

The fire, which started around 10 a.m., gutted mobile phone shops and other structures, with eyewitnesses describing the scene as chaotic.

"We just saw smoke coming from one of the containers, and within minutes, the whole line was on fire," a distraught trader said.

The GNFS responded promptly, deploying four fire engines to the scene, but the fire's rapid spread was fueled by combustible materials stored in the shops.

No casualties have been reported, but the extent of the damage is still being assessed.

Officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Klotey Korle Municipal Assembly are on-site, coordinating relief efforts and investigating the cause of the fire.