Fire sweeps through Mogadishu's main market killing 2 people

Published March 16, 2017

A Somali soldier walks through the wreckage after a fire engulfed the Somali capital's main market in Mogadishu, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. A police officer said the overnight inferno was moved by winds which started at the gold bazaar and rapidly spread into different areas of the market, razing large buildings, shops and food stores. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) (The Associated Press)

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Somali traders watch as their stores burn, after a fire engulfed the Somali capital's main market in Mogadishu, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. A police officer said the overnight inferno was moved by winds which started at the gold bazaar and rapidly spread into different areas of the market, razing large buildings, shops and food stores. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) (The Associated Press)

A Somali shopkeeper stands amidst the wreckage after a fire engulfed the Somali capital's main market in Mogadishu, Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. A police officer said the overnight inferno was moved by winds which started at the gold bazaar and rapidly spread into different areas of the market, razing large buildings, shops and food stores. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) (The Associated Press)

A Somali police officer says a huge fire hit Somali capital's main market, killing at least two people.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the overnight inferno started at the gold bazaar and winds spread it rapidly through the market, razing large buildings, shops and food stores.

Firefighters eventually put out the fire which sent hundreds of people fleeing across the streets of the Somali capital's commercial center.

Mogadishu's mayor, Sheikh Yusuf Hussein, visited the burned out marketplace Monday and said that firefighters were hampered by the market's narrow roads. He said the government would assist businessmen in recovering from property losses from the fire.

The cause of the fire remains unclear but market traders blamed an electrical fault.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/fire-sweeps-through-mogadishus-main-market-killing-2-people