Western Bahr el-Ghazal State Information minister Nicola Samuel has said the Wau town authorities spent Saturday night rescuing shops in the Jou main market after an electric fault.

Minister Samuel told Radio Tamazuj Sunday that the fire broke out in one of cloths shops at 11PM while it was raining.

He said that together with the Trinity Energy Limited, the company that supplies power in Wau, the mayor, the police commissioner, the state Chamber of Commerce and the national security forces deployed recently to the market, they managed to control the fire from advancing to the next shops.

Samuel pointed out that the fault was caused by the heavy rainwater leakage from the roofs.

“There was a fire outbreak due to an electricity fault. There was a problem of wiring in one of the shops in Jau market and we got a call late at night,” said Samuel.

“I was notified at 11PM, and I would like to appreciate the national security team in the market, the commissioner of police, the mayor and his deputy, and the Chamber of Commerce. I would like to thank them because we contacted the fire brigade to no avail,” he said.

Samuel said the assessment of the damage would be conduct on Sunday morning.

The minister urged the traders in the market to avoid illegal electricity connections but should contact the power company to provide them with qualified electricians. 

Samuel said the same rain had also briefly disrupted the Zain Telecom network, which supplies the greater Bahr el-Ghazal, including the Abyei Administrative Area, but it was restored last night by the engineers.

“The rain also affected the Zain company network main switch, one of the operators in Western Bahr el-Ghazal State, including Abyei, but with the help of engineers and the security team, we worked till 1AM, and the network was successfully restored,” he said.