APA – Kigali (Rwanda) – A major early morning fire engulfed the Ecobank headquarters in Kigali on Tuesday, damaging electric systems and ceilings, according to the police.
Plumes of smoke could be seen issuing from the large building which is the operational headquarters of the bank in the East African country.
A few employees of the bank sustained minor injuries while attempting to access the fire escape, the police statement said.
The cause of fire and damages are yet to be established. However several items including mobile phones, laptops and office equipment are said to have been lost to the inferno.
In rescue efforts, the occupants used stairs after the lifts in the building automatically malfunctioned following the outbreak.
According to initial investigations, the fire is believed to have started from the roof spreading to top floors that housed the bank’s international and administration departments where a lot of property has been destroyed.
Ecobank Rwanda was established on 6 July 2007, when Ecobank International acquired the Bank of Commerce, Development and Industry (BCDI), a commercial bank that had gone down under.
At the time of acquisition, BCDI had a 46 percent non-performing loan profile, was under-capitalized and suffered from poor governance and inadequate operational controls.
CU/as/APA