Two die, property worth thousands of cedis destroyed, in Accra, Kumasi fires

Five separate fire outbreaks in Accra and Kumasi between December 25 and December 28, 2018, claimed the lives of two siblings and destroyed property worth thousands of cedis.

Three of the fire outbreaks occurred at Adum and KO, both in the Kumasi central business district, while the third incident was recorded at Bompata near Roman Hill also in Kumasi.

The remaining two fires were recorded at Kokomlemle and the Central Business District of Accra, near the Makola Market.

It has not been established what caused the fire outbreaks.

Kokomlemle

Two siblings, Junior Okai,10, and his brother, Stephen Okai, were trapped and killed in a fire that gutted their house at Kokomlemle in Accra at about 10:30 p.m. on December 28, 2018.

The two siblings were asleep in their room when the incident occurred.

Three other family members sustained varying degrees of injury, a station fire officer at the headquarters of the Ghana National Fire Service, Mr Eugene Ahomi, said.

Eyewitnesses said they heard the children calling for help but they could not help due to the intensity of the fire.

Mr Ahomi said the cause of the fire was yet to be established.

Christmas Day

In a related development, goods worth thousands of Ghana cedis were destroyed in a number of shops near the Makola Market in the Central Business District of Accra on Christmas Day, when fire gutted the shops.

The fire, said to have started around 10:30 a.m, was put out by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service.

It is unclear what caused the fire.

Eyewitnesses said they saw a thick cloud of smoke billowing from one of the shops upstairs and they called in the Fire Service.

“We saw smoke coming out and we had to help by picking some of our things out of the shop,” one of the eyewitnesses said.

Fridges, fans, air-conditioners and other home appliances were destroyed by the fire.

In another Christmas Day fire, Daniel Kenu reports that fire destroyed property at Roman Hill in Kumasi.

A number of shops and the items in them were destroyed in the fire, whose cause is also yet to be established.

PZ

Daniel Kenu again reports that fire also destroyed a number of shops at Adum and KO in the central business district of Kumasi on Sunday, December 28, 2018.

The Sunday dawn fire was the second in five days after a similar incident ravaged a number of shops at Bompata near Roman Hill, also in Kumasi.