Fire displaces hundreds in Achimota slum

An inferno has displaced hundreds of people in slums along the Achimota railway lines, behind the Old Station on the border with Abofu.

The fire gutted the slum yesterday morning destroying property and displacing many of the slum dwellers whose abodes were consumed by the fire.

Beyond the makeshift homes that got burnt, vehicles that were parked close to the area were also affected by the raging fire.

Although the source of the fire is not yet known, eyewitnesses said it started from a kiosk converted into a residential property.

Some residents in the area told the Daily Graphic they suspected the fire was deliberately set to displace and eject squatters from the land which was recently sold to a developer.

The source explained that the new landowner had paid off the squatters to vacate the land to make way for construction works to begin.

Everything gone

Firemen were busy putting out the fire when the Daily Graphic got to the scene about 9:24 a.m.

There were about three fire engines and a dozen of fire-fighters that battled for hours to bring the fire under control.

Some of the displaced residents who were visibly shaken by the event salvaged the remains of their belongings from the debris when the fire was brought under control few minutes to midday.

One of them, Ms Rita Asamani, said that the Fire Service did not respond to the fire on time and that allowed it to spread quickly.

She said everything she owned, including cash, a fridge, a television and clothes, had been consumed by the fire.

“They should have come earlier because when it started it was small before it spread out to all that area so if they had come early maybe we could have saved something, but now we have lost everything, even where to sleep,” she said.

Alarming numbers

The frequency of fire outbreaks has become alarming in recent weeks.

Last Sunday, another fire gutted the Old Fadama slum at Agbogbloshie where similar havoc occurred.

There was also a fire outbreak last Monday which ravaged several shops at Asante Bekwai in the Ashanti Region.

In Buipe, fire razed four fuel tankers parked on the premises of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Ltd last Friday.