25 Injured in stampede to escape fire at KSTS

Twenty-five students were injured when fire engulfed the ‘chop box’ room of the girls dormitory of the Kumasi Senior High Technical School (KSTS).

The fire which started around 3 a.m. yesterday, after several power outages, burnt the ‘chop boxes,’ trunks, suitcases, books, dresses and other personal belongings of the female students.

The girls sustained the injuries in their bid to escape from the fire. 

Those who got injured during the melee were rushed to the First Care Hospital for treatment.

The Assistant Headmaster, Mr Issah Ibrahim, said they heard distress calls from the girls dormitory around 3 a.m. about a fire outbreak and rushed there to find the ‘chop box’ room on fire.

He stated that they managed to put out the fire with extinguishers on the campus, while they called in the Ghana National Fire Service.

Power fluctuations 

Mr Ibrahim said they suspected the incessant power fluctuations as the cause of the fire.

Kumasi in the past week has experienced unexplained power fluctuations, with about 10 power outages experienced within an hour, which cause damages to electronic gadgets as well as fires.

A student, Rebecca Antwi, who spoke with the Daily Graphic, corroborated the story and said they were all in a rush to escape the fire at a time when electricity was off and there was pitch darkness.

She said all of them were struggling to come out of the same door, a situation which culminated in the injury of some of her colleagues.

As of 6 a.m. when the Daily Graphic team was leaving the campus, some parents who had heard of the fire outbreak were rushing to the school to ascertain whether their children were injured or had been sent to the hospital.

House burns

In another development, a seven-bedroom house was completely burnt last Monday at Kenyase-Abrem Brofoyedru in the Kwabre East District in the Ashanti Region, reports Daniel Kenu from Kumasi.

The cause of the three-hour fire was not immediately known but eye witnesses said it could be as a result of the erratic power outages which had become rampant in the region lately.

Properties, including a four-wheel Toyota Prado, valued at hundreds of cedis were destroyed.

Station officer Asamoah from the Manhyia Divisional Fire Station who led his team to extinguish the blaze told the Daily Graphic it was too early to assign any reason for the fire.

Statistics

The Kenyase-Abrem fire is the third domestic fire, after one each at Esreso and Dechemso recently.

It adds up to two fire outbreaks at the Kumasi Central Market and six others at Roman Hill, two slums at Santase and Dagomba Line near Anloga Junction and Mbrom.