By Aweys Yusuf

MOGADISHU, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Shopkeepers sifted through the ashes of tin-roofed shops and kiosks in Mogadishu on Wednesday after a fire tore through one of the world's biggest open air weapons markets, killing one and sparking widespread looting.

Crowds of business owners, anxious to assess their losses, stormed the sprawling Bakara market, where everything from toothpaste to AK-47 rifles and counterfeit passports can be bought for a price.

"I have lost more than $25,000 in items that were in my kiosk," trader Mohamed Osman said.

"I do not know where to start my life. I have seven children, and the kiosk was our only source of income."

Authorities are investigating the cause of the blaze, which gutted much of the market on Tuesday. It was the third to hit Bakara in two years.

Overnight, residents said they could hear explosions from the market, which houses stockpiles of ammunition and arms.

After police lifted a cordon around area, many traders arrived to see their lives in ruins.

"I was afraid. I didn't go to Bakara last night because I knew that there would be shooting and looting," said shop owner, Ibrahin Madey. "I lost $8,000. My whole kiosk was burnt to ashes."

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi told local radio late on Tuesday the government would do whatever it could to rebuild the market -- the site of frequent attacks on government soldiers by suspected Islamist insurgents.

But food-seller Hussein Madobe said it was too late.

"I don't think that I will be able to go back in business again," he said. "I lost all I had left."

Weary residents in the chaotic Horn of Africa country are struggling with the effects of an insurgency against the interim government and their Ethiopian military allies that has killed thousands of people this year.

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