Old Eriku supermarket burnt to the ground

By JUNIOR UKAHA
ONE of the oldest supermarkets in Lae, Morobe, was reduced to ashes last Friday after the building caught fire.      
Owned by PC & JY Woo Ltd, the variety shop in Eriku went up in flames at around 8.30am.
Property and goods worth thousands of kina were destroyed.
City residents crowded at Eriku and watched in disbelief as the supermarket was completely destroyed.
Company spokesman Chris Donald said it was unfortunate as the incident happened at a time when they were expecting lots of customers from the rural areas to do their Easter shopping.
“The cause of the fire is not known at this stage,” he said.
“We are waiting for investigations to reveal what had actually happened. We apologise to our customers who planned to shop with us this Easter weekend.”
Donald speculated that the fire could have started from the warehouse or kitchen area at the back of the building.
Firefighters arrived at around 8.45am and attempted to put the fire out but the entire building was already engulfed in flames.
Lae police operations chief Insp Fred Kaiwa said police arrived at the scene soon after the fire started and cordoned off the area.
“Quick action by police from the metropolitan command had resulted in other nearby shops not looted,” he said.
The shop’s Chinese owner, who is said to be overseas, is one of the city’s founding businessmen.