2 Children die in fire outbreak in their home

Two children were burnt to death and three others sustained varying degrees of injury when blazing fire gutted their three-bedroom self-contained house at Akyem Oda last Sunday night.

The fire also destroyed property estimated at several thousands of Ghana cedis. The deceased have been identified as Clement Agyei, 6, and Desmond Karikari Agyei, 4. The survivors are Bernice Karikari, a 36-year-old hairdresser at Oda, Ereka Gyekyewaa and Blessing Agyeiwaa, aged 14 and nine years respectively.

Ms Karikari and her two daughters who were sent to the Oda Government Hospital have been discharged after receiving treatment, while the bodies of the two children have been deposited at the morgue of the same hospital.

Confirmation

The Oda Municipal Police Command confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic. The Municipal Commander, Chief Superintendent Daniel Amoako, said his outfit in collaboration with the Municipal Fire Service were conducting investigation to ascertain the cause of the fire.

Eyewitness

An eyewitness, Mary Brew, whose house is adjacent the victims' residence, told the Daily Graphic that at about 11 p.m. last Sunday, while having her bath, she heard Ms Karikari screaming for help.

She stated that when she peeped through her window, she realised that the victims' house was in flames and, therefore, she raised the alarm that attracted many people to the scene.

Ms Brew said as the victims had locked their bedroom doors, they could not have access to enter to rescue them. She said another resident in the house, who was on a short break to participate in the limited registration exercise and was occupying one of the bedrooms in the house, mustered courage and broke into the victims' bedroom, which save Ms Karikari and her two daughters, Ereka and Blessing, who escaped from the inferno but had burns on their bodies.

Trapped

Ms Brew stated that when Madam Karikari who was traumatised regained consciousness, she told the people at the scene that her two sons, Clement and Desmond, were trapped in the inferno.

She said the good samaritans who were at the scene fruitlessly used buckets of water to quench the fire until personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service came to assist but it was too late, as everything in the house was burnt to ashes.

The eye-witness said when the rescuers got access to the bedroom, the two boys had been burnt beyond recognition.