The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has expressed concern about inadequate fire stations in the country, highlighting the fact that Accra’s plush East Legon doesn’t have one.
This comes after two cars caught fire in an accident at East Legon that led to the death of two people.
According to ADO1 Alex King Nartey of the Public Relations Department of the GNFS, it took about 15 minutes for a fire tender to arrive at East Legon from the Madina Fire Station.
He said that was even possible because there was less traffic congestion.
The gory accident is reported to have been caused by a minor who rammed a Jaguar into an Acura.
ADO1 Alex King Nartey told Joy Prime on Monday, October 14, that they are still investigating the accident.
He however gave some initial details about how the accident occurred.
“Upon our initial investigation, we realized that the Acura was at a junction about to negotiate a curve when the Jaguar came with a very unreasonable speed hitting the vehicle at the back and forcing it to crossover to hit a wooden electric pole.”
And our initial assessment is that the electric pole and the wire from the pole might have fallen on the vehicle sparking a fire and thereby starting the fire that we saw. The fortunate thing was that the two people in front of the Acura, the driver and the passenger were rescued before we got there.
“But the unfortunate thing is that the two ladies at the back were not fortunate because due to the impact from the back, the back of the Acura was mangled thereby inhibiting their movement. And again because it hit the pole, it further inhibited their way to exit so that’s how come they were trapped and they had their seat belts on, and so unfortunately got burnt to death.”
He said the firefighters had to carefully remove the bodies of the deceased to minimize further damage.
“We had to be very tactful taking their bodies out because the bodies had melted onto the seat and so we had to cut the whole car into scrap to be able to get them out without further dismembering their bodies since they were very charred. Fortunately, we retrieved their bodies and handed them over to the Police.
He added that the two people in the Jaguar including the driver that caused the accident are also responding to treatment at the University of Ghana Medical Centre (UGMC).
He noted that, the passenger in the front seat of the Acura who escaped has been treated and discharged, while the driver is still responding to treatment.
He said they would visit the University of Medical Centre for further assessment.
Regarding reports that the driver of the car that caused the accident was the son of a known reverend minister in Ghana, the Fire officer said he could not confirm that information at the moment.
Even before the investigation concludes, the fire officer believes that the accident occurred due to excessive speeding.
“I have a feeling that he [Driver] was going between 150 and 180 kilometres per hour because looking at the CCTV footage it was an abnormal speed. It’s not even a speed that you probably see on a highway not to talk of a residential area like that.
ADO1 Nartey advised motorists to as much as possible always check the side mirrors for cars coming beside them to ensure their safety.
He also advised motorists to have fire extinguishers in their vehicles and learn to use them in cases of emergency.
ADO 1 Nartey also called on residents to put pressure on local assemblies to put up fire stations in the localities that do not have them.
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