Woman goes dumb after husband, children’s death

Traumatised by the death of her husband and two children through a raging fire that also destroyed all her belongings, Madam Ama Ohenewa, the 32-year-old recharge-card seller is reported to have gone dumb.

Although medical experts described the condition as temporal, she has gone dumb for the past three days.

She lost her family in a fire outbreak at Otina, at East Legon in Accra.

The situation, according to a neighbour who disclosed this to The Mirror, has forced the relatives of Madam Ohenewa to transport her to their family house at Nsawam in Accra.

On Saturday at 10:30 p.m., the victim’s children, Akua Angel, 2, and Kofi Michael, 3, died when fire gutted the wooden structure they were sleeping in.

In an attempt to save the two children from the raging fire, Kwame Yeboah, husband of Madam Ohenewa, who rushed into the structure, sustained injuries and died on arrival at the 37 Military Hospital.

The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the mortuary.

The fire, said to have been caused by embers from a mosquito coil, swept through the one room wooden structure.

At the time of the incident, Madam Ohenewa was reported to be selling recharge cards 50-metres away from the structure.

According to a neighbour who spoke on condition of anonymity, since the incident happened, most people, especially residents of Adjirigano, have besieged the old premises of Ama.

Whereas some of them pointed fingers at the Ghana National Fire Service accusing them of arriving late, others blame the couple for leaving the two children alone at home.

A neighbour said Madam Ohenewa had since then spoken only once to the police.

Asked what time the relatives came for her, the neighbour said she woke up in the morning and realised that the room where she had been kept after the incident had been locked.

When contacted, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the Police Public Affairs Directorate, Freeman Tettey, said investigations have been launched into the incident.