Electrical Fault Sparks Fire at Roads Ministry, Two Offices Destroyed

By Awan Achiek

A fire broke out at the Ministry of Roads and Bridges on Wednesday morning, destroying the offices of the minister and executive director and damaging valuable property before firefighters brought the blaze under control.

According to Yien Bol Mayuak, the ministry’s Director General for Administration and Finance, the fire was caused by an electrical socket connected to an air-conditioning unit.

The incident occurred around 9 a.m., with flames rapidly engulfing the building and immediately gutting the minister’s and executive director’s offices.

Bol stated that the swift intervention by firefighters prevented the blaze from spreading to other offices.

“We managed to contain the fire. Only the offices of the minister and the executive director were burned, but the rest of the offices, including the undersecretary’s, were not affected,” Bol told The Dawn on Wednesday.

Bol reiterated that the fire originated from an electrical socket connected to an air-conditioning unit.

“Actually, there was a fire outbreak in the minister’s office caused by an air-conditioning (AC) socket. It’s the source where that fire started,” Bol explained.

“It was at the time when we were already in the office. Only that the minister was on the way coming. So when that one broke out like that, we ran to the office and then called those fire brigades, plus our fire extinguishers. We started to control the situation.”

He confirmed that the state Civil Defense Service responded to the fire at the Ministry complex and successfully extinguished it.

“Otherwise, it was difficult because the whole office was actually burning. What we managed to do is only to control the fire from spreading to the other offices.”

He reported no casualties, confirming that all staff members are safe.

“The second point is that there is no human harm. There is not any human person affected. All our staff are safe. And other things are okay. The harm is only in the office of the minister,” he said.

However, he lamented the loss of valuable ministry documents.

“Well, there are no documents safe because the whole office is burned down. Although we were here, all of us, including those of the fire brigade, people tried,” he said.

“But everything, everything was burned inside there. Because it was difficult actually for us to enter. Even the fire was about to block in the executive director.”

For his part, Gen. Roden Loro, Commissioner General of the National Civil Defense Service, stated that upon receiving a phone call about the fire at the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, he immediately dispatched firefighters.

“My officers in the Central Equatoria Civil Defense immediately responded to the fire outbreak with their full force and equipment, and they put out the fire in less than six minutes,” Gen. Loro said.

He announced the formation of a five-member committee to assess the causes of the fire and the damages at the Ministry of Roads and Bridges.

Gen.Loro explained that the committee is headed by directors of Civil Defense of Central Equatoria State, deputized by an engineer from the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, with three other members.

He added that the committee is mandated to assess the causes of the fire and the damages to the building, reporting its findings within three days.

Gen. Loro also mentioned a separate fire that broke out at Sherikat Market, destroying eight shops and causing losses estimated at millions of South Sudanese pounds for shop owners.

“There are about eight shops that got burned and completely damaged, and most of their goods got burned down, and that is actually what has happened this morning.”