Two girls burn to death in Sunyani

An eighteen-year-old graduate of Mfantsiman Girls Senior High School and her eight-year-old sister burned to death in a fire outbreak that engulfed their house at Berlin-Top, a suburb of Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region.

The fire incident which occurred around 11:30 pm Wednesday, razed down the entire five-bedroom self-contained apartment that was home to 18-year-old Priscilla Oppong Yeboah and her Esther Dakera.

However, their father, Samuel Oppong Yeboah, Sunyani West District Director of Veterinary Services Department and their mother escaped unhurt.

The bodies of the girls have been retrieved and deposited at the regional hospital in Sunyani.

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Assistant Divisional Officer II, Henrietta Budu, has confirmed the tragedy to Daily Guide.

The PRO said initial investigations conducted by the Fire Service into the incident established that the fire started from the kitchen of the 5-bedroom house.

Fire fighters say they saw what appeared to be a leaking gas cylinder that had a stone placed on it to support the regulator.

They suspect that the leaking gas cylinder may have exploded after it caught fire.

The two girls are said to have died out of suffocation by the thick smoke from the burning house.

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Public Relations Officer of the GNFS advised the general public to keep the fire emergency number -- 192 -- in mind or on their mobile phones so that they could call for swift assistance in times of emergency.

She said residents delayed in calling the Fire Service, as the number, 190, was dialled instead of 192, for swift rescue services from the GNFS.

The Member of Parliament for Sunyani West, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, yesterday visited the area to ascertain the extent of the havoc caused by the blaze and consoled the affected family.