Sprawling market next to slum occupied by Jamaica’s military gutted by fire
By APFriday, May 28, 2010
Big market next to restive slum gutted by blaze
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A mysterious fire in a sprawling market next to a police-occupied slum has reduced stalls and inventory to ashes.
Kingston’s Coronation Market has been gutted in the early Friday blaze. It is next to the bullet-pocked complex of Tivoli Gardens, where Jamaican security forces have conducted a slum raid that left scores of people dead in gun battles since Monday.
An AP journalist saw bullet casings scattered at the gutted market. Security forces did not immediately provide comment.
Heavily armed forces have gained tenuous hold on Tivoli Gardens in a hunt for reputed underworld boss Christopher “Dudus” Coke.
Vendors have been avoiding the market since violence broke out Sunday. The government had been encouraging them to return.
