Police in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, say a fire that engulfed a poultry store in the Chinatown district on Saturday is being investigated.
The Assistant Commander of the police, Gabriel Manelusi, says police attended the scene in the Vuvula Poultry building in a popular shopping district.
He says firefighters who had been occupied fighting another fire came to douse the flames but it was not enough to save the building and the shopkeepers' stock.
Gabriel Manelusi says police have already taken seven witness statements but are not treating the fire as suspicious.
He says firefighters had no chance to enter the building.
"But then it cannot be possible because it was locked and with a steel rod and at the same time the building collapsed. That is why the police tried to prevent the fire spreading to other nearby buildings."
Gabriel Manelusi says the fire began from inside the locked building and could have been caused by an electrical fault.
The RSIPF central watch house in the capital Honiara. Photo: RNZI Koroi Hawkins
