Police in the Ashanti Region are investigating a suspected insecticide poisoning which resulted in the death of three siblings at Asawase in Kumasi.
The insecticide was reportedly used to combat bedbugs in the room where they slept on December 28, 2023.
The victims are 15-year-old Judith Ekua Frans and her siblings, 11-year-old Christian Magdaline Efua Frans and six-year-old Nana Benin.
They had visited their grandmother for the school holidays in Asawase when the unfortunate incident happened.
Their uncle, Anthony Frans, while preparing the room for their stay, applied the insecticide, Topstoxin Fumigation tablet also known as ‘bomb,’ to disinfect the room against bedbugs.
The same night, the siblings slept in the room with their grandmother only to be found unconscious the next morning.
They were rushed to the hospital but Christian Magdaline Efua Frans and Nana Benin were pronounced dead upon arrival.
Judith Ekua Frans later succumbed while on admission.
According to the Assembly Member for the Asawase East Electoral area, Mathew Amissah, the incident has plunged the community into grief.
“I was informed about the incident by a friend in my electoral area while on a visit to the hospital. I rushed to the ward and realized two of the victims had passed on. The grandmother and the eldest niece were also on admission to the Emergency Center ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for further treatment.
“I assisted them, and we came to the police station, and the uncle of the deceased who applied the chemical was arrested and detained,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Anthony Frans has been put before court and slapped with a provisional charge of murder, while prosecutors are seeking ample time to continue with investigations.
He has, however, been granted a GHC20,000 bail. He is to reappear before the court on January 23, 2024.