At the Makola Shopping Mall in Accra, a fire destroyed more than 200 temporary structures and shops, forcing authorities to temporarily close the mall in order to better assess the situation.

On Friday, October 20, 2023, around 11:00 p.m., the fire began. It was put out by members of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in four and a half hours. However, it is still unclear what caused the fire, and the GNFS says it is still looking into the matter.

Wigs, perfumes, cosmetics, jewellery, and other items worth thousands of Ghana cedis were among the items destroyed. There weren't any losses.

Speaking to the media about the incident, Deputy Director of Operations of GNFS, Chief Fire Officer Kofi Forson, explained that on Friday night at 11:24 p.m., fire personnel received a distress call. Because there was a fire station nearby, fire personnel arrived at the scene in less than two minutes.

He said because the fire was intense, they further called for reinforcement with more firefighting equipment.

“In all nine firefighting appliances, 70 fire personnel tried to bring the fire under control; they forced open the padlocks locking the main entrance to the mall, using special equipment, and got access to the spot where the incident occurred,” he stated.

Mr Forson emphasised that over 2,000 stores, including temporary buildings, were saved by the staff and emphasised that a sub-station of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), which was located ten metres from the mall, was spared damage from the fire as a result of the staff's quick action.

The difficulties, according to him, were getting to the trouble spot because of the temporary structures that had nearly blocked all the alleys, making it difficult to put out the fire efficiently.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, according to the Greater Accra Regional Commander of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer(ACFO I) Roberta Aggrey-Ghanson.

She claimed that some cosmetic products that were exposed to the fire's heat were what caused the explosions heard during the fire outbreak.