Death of 7-month old baby linked to Kasoa power surge

A 7-month old baby in Kasoa Galilea in the Central Region has been burnt to death in a fire outbreak following a power surge that her parents say resulted from the frequent power outages there.

A distraught mother, Joyce Agbavitor, told JoyNews' Michaela Anderson, she left to fetch water and returned to find her house on fire. Her husband, Eric Dorsese, had left earlier with her twins to school.

Eyewitnesses say a light bulb inside the house caught fire after power was restored to her neighborhood following days in darkness.

The 7-month old baby was trapped in the blaze burning her to death. A neighbor had parts of his hands burnt after he rushed in to bring out the baby.

The fire ravaged their possessions including a susu box which contained their savings.

The grieving mother revealed that aside from a few clothes she'd washed and left out to dry, all the family has left are the clothes on their backs. 

Power-related tragedies mirror a country in power crisis. The unannounced power cuts are making the crisis even more unbearable.

Last week residents of Kasoa in the Central Region accused officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) of failing to provide them with power for more than four days.

Last year, a 27-year old teacher, Betty Arko, suffered severe burns after a power fluctuation caused an explosion at a power station in Winneba, Central region.

Although her house was located miles away from the power station, her television set exploded and caught fire.

The teacher unfortunately succumbed to injuries sustained when her television exploded, and died a few days later. Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline|Edwin Appiah|[email protected]