A family of seven have lost their lives in a fire outbreak that occurred over the weekend in their apartment at Big Apple, a suburb of Gomoa Buduburam in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region.
Reports say the deceased are Robert Assan, a head teacher, his wife and their five children, including a four-month year old baby.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire started around 5:30 am, but could not ascertain what might have started the fire.
A resident, Isaiah Bentle, disclosed that they woke up to screams and shouts of the family for help, as well as thick billows of smoke from the apartment of the deceased.
Rescue attempt
He added: “They rushed to the scene, tried to break into the apartment to rescue them, but they were unsuccessful because of the fire’s intensity”.
“When we rushed there, we saw the wife of the head teacher and one child of theirs shouting for help; we did all we could but the intensity of the fire was greater. Alas! We lost all of them,” he narrated.
Another resident said the nature of the charred bodies cannot make anyone recognise them, “even though we know them”, lamenting “it is a sad day for us in this community, and difficult to believe”.
The resident further stated when the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) personnel got to the scene, after receiving a distress, all seven members of the family were completely burnt.
The Operations Officer of the GNFS at Gomoa Budumburam, ADO 2 Patrick Bawa, said at 6:40 am his men arrived at the scene to quench the fire, but the harm was already done.
“Looking at the structure, burglar proof before the main entrance, the hall and one before the bedroom, it was difficult to access the family and to save them.
“When we arrived, the fire was burning seriously. However, our men were able to bring the blaze down within a few minutes. It was then that we realised that a family of seven had been all burnt,” the Operations Officer narrated.
He said his personnel quickly mobilised the police, and the ambulance service to assist, adding that “the scene is under investigation”.
“We have cordoned off the place because the place is now a crime scene. However, we will still come back for further investigations,” he stated.
According to ADO 2 Patrick Bawa, if the building were to have a fire alarm system, the alarm would have sounded for the man to hear but unfortunately, there was no fire alarm systems that could have warned the inhabitants.
He therefore advised the public to get fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in their homes to detect early fire warnings. He said these gadgets were not available in the whole structure of the head teacher and his immediate family members.
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