Today in 2017: I survived on loans after June 3 disaster – Victim

It’s exactly 5 years when some residents, traders, and passersby at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle witnessed an inferno that claimed over 150 lives.

After the incident, government promised the affected persons an amount of ¢10,000 each to begin a ‘new’ life.

A victim of the June 3 fire and water disaster, Derick Appiah who sustained some degree of injury due to the fire but lost his properties and work equipment said not even a dime was given to victims as proposed by government.

He noted that he resorted to bank loans to start operating his fresh fruit juice business again to save money to cater for himself and his family.

However, sales are not booming for him to cash in and settle his debts, as well as seek medical care for his injury.

Read the story orginally published in 2017 by Ghanaweb.com below

A victim of the June 3 fire and flood disaster, Derick Appiah has revealed that he has survived on loans since the incident destroyed his business two years ago.

He explained how he lost all his properties and business equipment to the tragic incident that resulted in the death of more than 150 people.

Appiah, who sells fresh fruit juice drink close to the fuel station that exploded, noted that he has had no form of assistance from government.



He stated that his business survived because of the benevolence of his bank which gave him a loan to restart the business.

“I did not get even a pesewa from any government agency, a lot of people say they [government] have been giving money to people but we got loan from a bank that we save with. We explained what happened and they [the bank] also saw for themselves what happened on TV so they granted us the loan and we have been paying since that time. We have not been able to finish paying,” he lamented

Appiah bemoaned the negative impact the disaster has had on his business suggesting that his returns has decreased compared to what he used to get before the incident.

He added, “after the disaster, it’s the loan which helped us to purchase all the machines to restart the business. Business hasn’t been the same again because a lot of people have not been using the route, we face a lot of challenges.”

Appiah, who incurred some degree of injury due to the fire, managed to survive by climbing a tree nearby.

The country was thrown into a state of grief after torrential rains on June 3, 2015 and an inferno claimed the lives of more than 150 people at Kwame Nkrumah Circle.