Mother, daughter die in fire outbreak

A 44-YEAR-OLD woman and her 17-year-old daughter died at Dansoman, a suburb of Accra when fire swept through their bedroom while they were asleep on Tuesday night.

The deceased, Ms Regina Bonsu and Jennifer Gyasiwaa, an SSS 1 student of Miles Business College in Accra, were believed to have died through suffocation. Their bodies have been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra for autopsy.

Items in the room, including a standing fan, a sofa and four suitcases, were burnt.

The landlord of the house, Mr Samuel Antwi Baayeh, said he returned from church to witness the unfortunate incident.

According to him, the fire which started around 9.30 p.m. might have been caused by a lighted candle or mosquito coil.

He explained that power to the house had been disconnected by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

Mr Baayeh said neighbours from an adjoining house saw a thick smoke coming out of the victims single room and alerted those in the house.

“They might have died instantly out of suffocation since no noise nor shouts for help were heard by any member of the household,” he said.

He said their power was disconnected because they owe the ECG an amount of ?545,450 in electricity bill. He said though they had paid ?180,000, it did not reflect on their bill.

Mr Antwi noted that the husband of the deceased and their son had gone out of the house at the time of the incident.

He said the boy had gone to church while the father had travelled to Prestea. When contacted, DSP Paul Kwasi Osei, the Crime Officer in charge of the Ghana Police station at Dansoman, said a team of police and military patrol team arrived at the scene of the incident in the course of their duties.

DSP Osei said the combined efforts of the neighbours, his team and later the Fire Service to save the lives of the two persons proved futile when upon breaking the door to the room they realised they were already dead.