Fire kills 2 children at Tema New Town

Two children, aged four and 14, were at dawn yesterday burnt to death when fire gutted their makeshift residence at Abonkor at Tema New Town.

Identified as Gifty Tetteh and Emmanuella Quainoo, the two were asleep in the wooden structure when the fire engulfed them.

Adjoining structures within the vicinity were also destroyed by the fire, which occurred around 2 a.m.

Some residents told the Daily Graphic that although they heard calls for assistance, they were unable to rescue the children because of the intensity of the fire.

Fire fighting

The Tema Regional Fire Commander, Mr Julius A Kuunuor, who coordinated the fire fighting efforts, said the command had launched investigations into the incident to ascertain what might have triggered the fire.

Residents of the area were, however, of the view that the fire might have been caused by a candle which was in use at the time of the incident.

A resident of the neighbourhood, Mr Daniel Ashitey, told the Daily Graphic that there was power outage at the time of the fire, adding that they suspected a lit candle might have started the fire which later spread to the other structures.

Writer's email: benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh