Two children have been burned to death in a domestic fire outbreak in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern region.
The incident occurred on Sunday night around 11:00 pm.
The deceased persons have been identified as 6-year-old Clement Adjei and 4-year-old Desmond Adjei Karikari, both pupils of Ridge Experimental Basic School.
Information gathered indicates that their mother, Bernice Agyei Karikari, also got severely injured, while properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis have been destroyed.
The two children, who were part of a five-member family, were asleep in a three-bedroom house when the unfortunate incident happened.
According to an eyewitness, he saw the ravaging inferno from the roof of the building and rushed to call the occupants.
They struggled for some time before unlocking their door to rescue them.
However, he couldn’t return to rescue the two children trapped in the room.
He disclosed that the house was connected to electricity barely three weeks ago, and the electric pole caught fire, leading to the outbreak.
Firefighters were called to the scene but could only prevent the fire from spreading from other houses.
A firefighter addressing bystanders expressed sadness over the death, stating it could have been averted if they were called on time.
In a recent statistical report, the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Julius A. Kuunuor, disclosed that the GNFS recorded 2,764 fire incidents between January and April this year.
CFO Julius A. Kuunuor revealed this at an event to climax the 2024 International Firefighters Day in Accra.
Mr Kuunuor also noted that out of the total fire incidents reported over that period, 1,985 were extinguished by fire personnel, while the public doused 779 upon arrival at the scene.
During the review period, the GNFS dealt with 176 road traffic accidents, 747 injuries, and 92 deaths.
The GNFS also responded to 52 distress calls for rescue during the period, which resulted in 19 injuries and 12 deaths.