Home>News Center>World
         
 

Blaze engulfs major market in Niger's capital
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-14 09:00

A huge fire swept through a major market in Niger's capital on Wednesday, sending a plume of black smoke over the dusty city and drawing hundreds of traders desperate to grab what they could from the inferno.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties but the market, which sells planks, paints and building materials, was closed when the fire broke out after nightfall.

Katako market supplies hardware materials to all of Niger and is one of Niamey's biggest markets. Firemen roared up in trucks to battle the blaze but it quickly destroyed a quarter of the stalls, shops and hangars.

Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world and a quarter of the population faces food shortages because of a severe drought and locust invasion last year.

Niamey, a jumble of 1970s concrete buildings that sprang up during a long-dead uranium boom, is on the banks of the mighty river Niger. Fires are relatively common.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Lien's visit poised to improve cross-Strait exchanges

 

   
 

Farmers' income up; urban-rural gap widens

 

   
 

Wrongly jailed man freed after 11 years

 

   
 

FM: Japan's drilling rights 'a provocation'

 

   
 

China's stocks regulator ready to act

 

   
 

First public hearing over environment

 

   
  Lebanon PM quits, says still time for elections
   
  Bush: Diplomacy with Iran is best
   
  Kidnapped American in Iraq pleads for his life
   
  Roadside explosion kills 12 Iraqi police
   
  Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano rumbles
   
  No aid to North Korea until nuclear crisis ends: Roh
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Fire sweeps through Moscow art market
   
Market fire kills 12 in Henan
   
Huge fire destroys 400 shops in Pakistan
   
Bus fire kills 17, injures five
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement