The Government of Burundi has appealed for help from the international community after a fire swept through the country’s largest market in the capital Bujumbura, destroying goods and property worth thousands of dollars, early this year.

A statement from the Burundi Embassy in Lusaka says that hundreds of traders lost all their goods and capital and most are now stuck because they do not have sources of borrowing to restart their businesses.

The market services customers and traders from Burundi’s neighbouring countries namely Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. Various imported and local products were damaged in the fire which is the first of its kind to attack the market.

The President of Burundi, His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza has set up a committee to mobilize resources to help the victims and oversee the reconstruction of the market. The country is appealing for help in whatever form.