C/R: Family of Seven Perish in Fire Outbreak at Dunkwa Akyempim

A tragic fire incident at Dunkwa Akyempim in the Upper Dankyira East Municipality on Saturday reportedly claimed the lives of seven (7) family members.

According to the Ghana National Fire Service, “the Dunkwa-On-Offin Fire Station, received a distress call at 0104 hours and responded swiftly to the fire involving a four-bedroom house”.

“The crew arrived at the scene at 0120 hours and discovered that one of the bedrooms in the affected four-bedroom house was fully engulfed in flames”.

A statement issued by the Public Relations unit of the Central Region Fire Service indicated that “firefighters tactically contained the blaze at 0132 hours, successfully preventing it from spreading to the remaining three bedrooms”.

“Sadly, a family of seven lost their lives in the fire. The victims included five children between the ages of 1 and 15, and two adults, believed to be the mother of the children and her eldest daughter, who could not be rescued in time”, the statement revealed.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that the husband of the deceased woman allegedly set the bedroom, where the seven victims were sleeping, on fire and locked it from the outside before fleeing to a nearby bush, where he is believed to have taken his own life”.

“The badly charred bodies of the deceased were handed over to the Ghana Police Service at Atekyim for further investigations”, according to the statement.

Subsequently, the Police discovered the body of the suspect, who had hanged himself, in a nearby bush.

The Service has thus urged the public to call the nearest Fire Station or dial the GNFS emergency numbers (112 / 0201500360 / 0302772446) immediately when fire outbreaks occurs, to enable firefighters save lives and properties.