The fire gutted at least eight market stalls at Chigoto Bus Station, destroying goods including electrical and mining equipment worth about US$50,000.
The cause of the fire, which broke out around midnight on Tuesday, has not yet been determined.
Stall owners whose mining tools, electrical and general equipment were destroyed said they needed resources to restock them.
“We do not know how we will recover from this devastating blow. “I lost inventory worth about US$6,500,” said a stall owner whose mining tools were destroyed.
The fire consumed everything, including the roofing materials.
The market president, Mr. Gilos Phiri, said that nothing could be saved after the fire broke out.
“The cause of the fire is not yet clear but the efforts of the Chigoto Fire Brigade were unable to stop the fire. Everything was destroyed as a result.”
Chegutu West legislator Cde Shakemore Timburwa toured the market to assess the extent of the damage.
“What we are seeing here is painful, and we are here to see how best to help affected families recover,” Mr. Timburwa said.
Going forward, there is a need to work with insurers to come up with tailored offers for sellers, he said.
“The affected people here taking care of their families are able to sell their goods. We need to come up with interventions that will ensure that they are not destroyed forever if such unfortunate incidents happen,” he said.
The legislator took measurements of the destroyed stalls to come up with a table of quantities to rehabilitate the market. Announce