Premix fuel fire outbreak at Egyiresa near Sekondi, Western Region has killed two persons, namely Joseph Adom, 15 years, and Justice Dadzie, 7 years and has left 12 people injured when fisherfolk offloading fuel drums from a taxi caused a spill. The vapours from the spilt premix fuel ignited from a nearby fish-smoking area.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) stated on their Facebook that the fire started at 4 pm on Sunday, May 18. They added that residents initially tried to control the fire with sand and seawater but were unsuccessful. However, their timely intervention prevented further devastation.
“Preliminary investigation revealed the fire started when fisherfolk offloading fuel drums from a taxi caused a spill. The vapours from the spilt premix fuel caught fire from a nearby fish-smoking area and flashed back injuring people and damaging properties. Residents’ initial efforts to control the fire with sand and seawater were unsuccessful, but the GNFS’s timely intervention prevented further devastation,” they stated.
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Assembly Member for Ngyirasia-Mpasem, Gabriel Ato Mensah, accounted that the two deceased victims were receiving treatment at Effia-Nkwanta Hospital when they succumbed to their injuries.
“We recorded 16 victims with 11 being males and five females. We brought 13 of them to Effia-Nkwanta, where treatment started, and we took the three to Saint Benedict Hospital at Inchaban. I personally took them to the hospital and later had to join the chief. When I came back, two of the victims had been taken to the theatre, thus Joseph Adom, 15 years and Isaac Blankson, 55 years. The other 11 were also receiving treatment at the emergency ward,” he said.
Ato Mensah added that two more injured persons are being transferred to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for further treatment.
“Currently the ambulance has taken one patient, Isaac Blankson who was at the theatre to Korle Bu and we are preparing another ambulance for one patient to Korle Bu for further treatment,” he added.
The fire outbreak also damaged a Land Rover, an Opel Astra, an electric pole, an ECG service line and some wooden structures.
On January 21, 2022, a truck loaded with mining explosives detonated in western Ghana, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens more.
The explosion destroyed 500 buildings and displaced over 500 people. In response, the government, in partnership with corporate bodies, commissioned 124 homes as part of phase 1 for the affected victims.
