20160518 Laos Fire destroys Dao Heuang Market, Champassak’s biggest
Laos May 18 2016 “Stores”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire destroys Dao Heuang Market, Champassak’s biggest
Updated: 2016-05-18
[Left] Fire keeps burning for several hours
[Right] Damage is left behind
Dao Heuang Market, the biggest commercial centre in Pakse district of Champassak Province, caught fire early in the morning of May 17 with most parts of the market reportedly destroyed but no report of casualties.
The fire incident is the third of its kind happening to the market since 2013 with the first and second reported respectively in November 2013 and May 2015.
Explosions were heard when the fire was in its initial stage of gaining its strength at around 1 am.
Many vendors and entrepreneurs running businesses at the market reportedly lost almost everything. Currently, there is an investigation into the cause of the incident being conducted by police officers.
Firefighters were finally able to bring the fire under control by 8 AM. Yet vendors, suffering the loss of their valuables, kept screaming.
The Dao Heuang Market is well-known among buyers and sellers, especially those in Champassak Province and other southern provinces.
A wide range of products are bought and sold at the market from fresh agricultural produce to clothing and jewelry. An eye witness said that the two previous fire incidents were relatively small with only a few
shops being destroyed. Tuesday’s event, however, left up to 80% of the shops at the market damaged or destroyed.
Web Source: LAO NEWS AGENCY
http://kpl.gov.la/Media/Upload/Newspaper/en/2016/05/2330/