The Eastern Market of Managua, which is the largest market in Central America, was consumed by a fire last Friday that could be seen from across the city. The blaze began early in the morning and no one was killed by the fire, but damage is estimated to be near 100 million dollars in a country whose entire GDP is only 15 billion dollars annually. Needless to say, the loss itself coupled with the an already staggering local economy might lead to devastating losses for the country itself.
The Cathedral in Managua organized a relief team composed of 150 volunteers, which arrived this morning and assisted with the cleaning process. With more than 15 acres of shops and stores scorched by the blaze, the work ahead is immense, but the church will be assisting in the cleaning efforts all this week. The majority of the work today consisted of merely organizing the mountains of rotting wood, burnt clothing, and other trash into heaps so that it will be more readily accessible at a later time.
