The cause of a fire that engulfed a Chinese retail shop Thursday morning 18 has been deemed undetermined.
One person was injured, authority said.
The fire emergency services suspected the fire started from the cooking area located at the southeast part of the building.
“On Thursday, 18th January 2018 at approximately 0026Hrs Nuku’alofa fire station responded to a call for assistance at Kapetā, Kolomotu’a at a corner of Vaha’akolo road and Matealona road opposite Queen Sālote College,” a Fire service spokesperson told Kaniva News.
“Upon arrival, the fire crew discovered fire from the Chinese Store.”
He said about 70 percent of the store including merchandise goods was affected by the fire.
“Approximately 30 percent of properties was saved including cash amount of TOP$5,558.40.”
“There was huge difficulty in trying to determine the exact cause of fire. It was not able to gain any evidence that would help indicate the heat source. Therefore, the exact cause of the fire is yet to be determined, as we are still conducting investigations into its exact cause.”
“The estimated loss is valuated to TOP$200,000.00.”
