Police officer, his wife and their 4 months old baby have burnt to death in a fire outbreak at Apromase Police barracks (Kumasi).
The police officer, who was identified by Joy News as Sgt. Owusu Asante Baafi of the Anti-robbery unit of the Ashanti regional police command lost his life and that of his family on Sunday night (January 15).
According to Joy News’ report, the officer, his wife, and their 4-months old daughter lived at the top floor of one of the buildings in the Apromase Police barracks which was completely destroyed by the fire.
An eyewitness told Joy News, “when we got here, there were few people here but the smoke was so heavy. We tried to climb up to save him as he was trying to break the door and cry out to us for help, but we were unable to help due to the intensity of the flame”
The eyewitness further narrated that, the police officers around also tried to rescue him but they were all unsuccessful. He added that, by the time the firefighters managed to quench the fire, it was too late for the police officer and his family.
According to a fire officer who spoke to Joy News, the cause of the fire is not known, but they have started investigations to discover the cause.
He also corroborated that the fire was intense before it was noticed so their intervention was untimely as the family gave up the ghost before they douched the fire.
“…they managed and gradually they were able to put the fire out. In the process, they realized 3 people had perished; a man, a wife and a child. And it’s all because the fire was well-developed before they realized there was fire incident in their building. And you know when you inhale smoke a lot, before you realize it, you’ll be down.
He also urged the public to install smoke detectors in their rooms to alert them on time during such incidents to avoid loss of lives and properties.
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