School proprietor and pupil die due to fire

Dr Peprah Agyemang, proprietor of PA Capital Preparatory and Junior High School on Friday died of shock when news reached him of the fire that had gutted a six-classroom block of the school.

A four-year-old pupil, Alex Opoku also died in a stampede when he was run over by some of the pupils who were fleeing the fire.

An eye-witness account said information about the fire was first communicated to Dr Agyeman who went to the scene but collapsed on seeing the state of the school and was rushed to the Sunyani Regional Government Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The bodies of late Dr Agyemang and little Opoku have been deposited at the Regional Hospital mortuary, pending autopsy.

The injured pupils in the stampede were also rushed to some nearby health facilities and the Regional Hospital for treatment.

Assistant Divisional Officer III (ADOIII) Francis Gaisie, who is the Sunyani Municipal Commander of Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), confirming the incident to the press in Sunyani, said his outfit had a call at 1300 hrs of the fire incident and quickly organised his men to the scene.

He said the fire situation was so intense at the time his men arrived at the scene, and “had reached the ceiling level whilst the pupils and the staff had were running helter-skelter for their lives”.

ADO Gaisie said although the primary block of the school had already been burnt, his men managed to bring the fire under control and, thereby, prevented it from spreading to other parts of the school.

He said initial investigation by GNFS revealed that the fire was started from a nearby old cemetery behind the school and spread to an area of the school where a gas-cylinder exploded and intensified it.