A Ba business owner who lost everything in a fire at the Ba Central Arcade last night says it was one of the most painful moments ever.

Vision Marketing Electrical Director, Sanjenesh Nandan says when they were contacted about the arcade being on fire, they rushed down to the shop.

However, Nandan says when they arrived the whole building was engulfed in flames and they were helpless.

“It was heartbreaking for us to see our things catching fire and burning in front of us we couldn’t do much and with this pandemic, we are heartbroken because we cannot sustain this kind of loss for our company.”

Nandan says this is a huge loss to them as they were already being affected by the pandemic.

According to Nandan around $30,000 was invested to start up the business last year.

The National Fire Authority is still trying to ascertain the cause of the fire.

A total of six retail shops that included a barbershop, a restaurant and an electronic shop were destroyed.

Also destroyed was a Small Business Enterprise which had stalls for people to sell handicrafts and artifacts.