Description of the disaster
A huge fire broke out in the biggest market (Waaheen) of Hargeisa on the evening of 01 April 2022. The Somaliland Fire Protection could only control it 16 hours after, at 12pm of April 02, with the support of the Ethiopia Somali region fire department. According to the Somaliland fire protection, this was the worst fire experienced in decades. Somaliland fire protection authority, together with local municipality, the central government and the SRCS conducted a damage assessment caused by this disaster.
As of April 03, SRCS and the government estimated that almost 2,000 shops and stalls were completely ravaged by the fire, leading to 100 buildings destroyed others 50-suffering extensive damage.
Most houses in the neighbouring area were made of light materials e.g., iron sheets, tarpaulins etc., amidst some tall concrete buildings.
At least 62 people were rescued from the fire while 28 people were severely injured (19 females including 1 pregnant mother and 9 male).
They were taken to the hospital for further treatment and finally discharged. No death tolls were reported as the fire happened on a weekend while the market was still closed.
Hargeisa and Somaliland being the central economic centre, the fire caused immense loss of both property and financial – estimated to be around 1.5-2 billion USD as reported by the mayor of Hargeisa who is a member of the national response committee. Some 10,000 people lost their livelihoods, and many others were indirectly affected by the trade disruption (farmers, suppliers, traders, among others). Investigations and the preliminary reports from the national DREF n° MDRSO013 GLIDE n° FR-2022-000191-SOM Operation start date: 06, April 2022 Operation timeframe: 4 Months Funding requirements (CHF):252,720 If Emergency Appeal/ One International Appeal operation, DREF amount initially allocated: CHF 252,720 N° of people being assisted: 2,340 (390HHs) instead 3000 people/500HHs in the initial EPoA Red Cross Red Crescent Movement partners currently actively involved in the operation: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and German RC.
Other partner organizations actively involved in the operation:
National Committee for Waaheen market fire, appointed by the President and led by the Minister of religion and representatives from the local municipality (Mayor of Hargeisa), chamber of commerce, governor of Maroodijeex region (Hargeisa), minister of interior, minister of commerce. National disaster preparedness response and food reserve (NADFOR)
Halkan ka Download Garayso Warbixinta
Fire breaks out in Hargeisa 01 April at 8pm chamber of commerce commission claimed that fire was caused by an electric shock from one of the businesses in the market which expanded and consumed the entire market. Details on the incident can be found in the EPoA.
https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-urban-fire-incident-final-report-dref-ndeg-mdrso013?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shared&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR1lpckhHU7vKU6vZL-OXJ6vjFiQ1IUNfkpMg9GOL_vbGjwsTpr2mKYN1PI
