Public curiosity and lack of assess crippled fire fighters in Kumasi

Kumasi, May 29, GNA - Mr Obeng Dankwa Dwamena, Ashanti Regional Fire Officer, has attributed the lack of access routes and public curiosity as the major challenges that prevented the fire service personnel, from controlling the Kumasi Central Market fire, which occurred on Thursday on time. He said although fire tenders from the Kumasi Metropolis and other nearby districts responded quickly to the fire, the two factors affected their operations.

Mr Dwamena disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Thursday night in Kumasi. He explained that it took the firemen almost two hours to gain access to the fire scene to control the fire. Deputy Regional Police Commander Kwasi Duku, who was also at the scene of the fire said, they had dispatched both plain clothed and other police personnel to the site to control the crowd, as well as ensure security with support from the military.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Opoku Manu, had earlier on visited the scene of the fire to assess the extent of damage. Speaking to a section of the press later, he mentioned that a committee would soon be put in place to investigate the cause of the fire and the appropriate action to be taken.

Speculations are rife on the cause of the fire, which started around 4pm around the "18" area, which later spread to other areas, but none of these have been confirmed.