A twenty one room compound house has been completely raised down by fire at ANLOGA, A suburb of the Oforikrom Municipality in the Ashanti Region.
The occupants, a majority of whom are traders, wept uncontrollably as they watched property and working capital go down to ashes.
It is unclear how the fire started but eye witnesses recounted that the fire was aggravated by gas cylinders as they heard large banging sounds when the fire raged on.
Victims were left watching helplessly as Entire rooms were completely burnt leaving nothing to salvage.
Eye Witness Account
“I was in the room with my sister when we smelt something burning. We came out and saw three bedrooms from ours in flames,”
““When I raised the alarm, to other occupants came out of their rooms and we all escaped. We couldn’t pick a pin from the house,” an eyewitness who gave her name as Gloria Ampofo narrated in tears
Money and Property lost
Some residents told GHONE News’ Reynold Paa Kwesi Dadzie they had lost various sums of cash which they had kept in their rooms.
A mother of two Beatrice Acheammpong, who was called from the streets where she hawks PK; said she had lost her entire room and a working capital of two thousand cedis.
A widow who could not control her emotions kept wailing about some seven thousand cedis she had kept for her work, her children’s school fees and her mother’s upkeep.
The displaced victims are calling for state support worried they have been rendered homeless; left with only the clothes on their backs.
Late Fire Fighting
While residents accused the fire service of arriving late to the scene, the Manhyia Fire Command insisted they were not called in time.
Eye witnesses were angered the extent of damage would have been less, if personnel and appliances from the fire service had reached the scene early enough.
“It took them one and half hours before they came. If they had come earlier the destruction would not have reached where it has gotten to, “an assembly member aspirant recalled.
ADO 1 Kennedy Asamoah, a Fire Officer from the Manhyia Divisional FIRE Command whose men were pelted with stones; however denied the allegations.
“We realized that the people didn’t call the Ghana National Fire Service Early. We got the call at 09:59 am and got here at 10:10 am. So the time of call to the Ghana National Fire Service was late,” he argued.
Burglars Arrested
In the midst of firefighting, two persons were arrested for attempting to steal the few items salvaged from the fire.
The fire service has commenced investigations to unravel the cause of the fire.
By: inewslens.com/Ivan Heathcote – Fumador.
