January 20, 2016 By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
Seven people have been arrested in connection to the blaze at the Electricity House on Siaka Stevens Street in Freetown in the early hours of Saturday, 16 January, according to special support operations officer in the office of Crime Management at the Criminal Investigation Department.
Superintendent Samuel Kargbo said all seven are staff at the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) and that they are “helping the police with their investigation”.
He declined though to give their identification on the grounds that they are mere suspects and that “there is a possibility to release them”.
Fire engulfed the fifth floor of the Electricity House which houses EDSA, barely a fortnight ago (29 December, 2015) after a similar incident destroyed documents and assets on two other floors.
“We are investigating the explosion. I cannot tell whether the fire accident is natural or magical. We need technical experts to tell us the cause of the blaze, that is why we are investigating and we will leave no stone unturned in our investigation,” vowed Supt. Kargbo.
He disclosed that they are almost at the conclusion of investigating the 29 December inferno when another fire accident was reported at the same facility last Saturday.
It took the fire fighters hours to put out both blazes, but not after serious damage had been caused to property reported to be worth millions of Leones, and other valuable records.
Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer at EDSA, Sahr Nepor, said he could not ascertain the value of property consumed in the blaze, but noted that the Audit Department, stores where pre-paid metres were kept and Corporate Planning Department were ‘gravely affected’ by the blaze.
However, he insisted the damage caused by the fire would not disturb their operation as most of the documents burnt would be retrieved through the backup system.
He maintained that EDSA would fully cooperate with the police for an indepth investigation on the cause of the fire.