4 Killed In Kumasi Fire

The burnt house with bewildered residents trooping in and out

FOUR PERSONS including a 90-year-old man were burnt beyond recognition after a wild fire consumed the house in which they were sleeping at Breman Nkontwima, a suburb of the Kumasi metropolis between 1am and 2am on Monday.

The dead are Afia Agyeiwaah, 52, a baker and a native of Kyekyewere in the Offinso area, Asumani Tawiah aka Efo, 90, Daavi Sowuti Mede, 82, and Akwasi Wusu, 14.

Three other victims, Beatrice Agyemang aka Maame B, Theophilus Berko and Nana Agyemang who were helped to escape are on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.  

Before she passed on, Madam Agyeiwaah, a popular baker in the community, was said to have cried for help but to no avail.

Yaw Owusu, an eyewitness, who rescued the victims, could not identify the cause of the inferno but told DAILY GUIDE that the fire started in the middle of the night when the victims were asleep.

According to him, at the time personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) got to the scene, the deceased and the entire house, including an unspecified amount of money, home appliances, furniture and other personal effects, had been consumed by the fire.

A police source at the Breman UGC Police Station, which pleaded anonymity, confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE and gave the assurance that investigations would be conducted to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident.

At about 8:40 am, when DAILY GUIDE got to the scene, curious residents, mostly women in the locality, had trooped to the scene to mourn the dead and sympathize with the bereaved families.

Members of the bereaved families who had gone to the scene to assess the extent of destruction could not withhold their grief as they burst into uncontrollable tears.   

People at the scene expressed shock at the circumstance under which the house burnt.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi