Six vehicles, a house and a shop have been completely burnt to ashes after an Accra- Burkinabe bound Fuel Tanker exploded into flames at Ejisu-Besease on the Kumasi-Accra road.
The inferno which started at about 10:30 pm Monday woke up residents of the Ejisu-Besease Township who then had to stay vigil till Tuesday morning when Fire Service personnel managed to bring the fire under control.
The Fire Service personnel prompt response to the distress call still required reinforcements from Konongo and Kumasi to fiercely battled the fire for about three hours.
Two big explosions which caused foundation of houses to tremble followed the fire, forcing the Accra-Kumasi road to close for traffic.
The driver of the truck is said to have detected leakage of the tanker at Manhyia, about 6 kilometers from the fire scene.
He then parked at the edge of the road and asked for water from nearby house before the explosion.
An eyewitness, Edward Boakye and other residents were awakened by the sound of the explosion.
But they could no longer stay in their rooms soon after the fire had started because of the excessive heat which emanated from the fire. “The heat was too much for us. We couldn’t stay in there,” he said.
Fire Service has launched investigations into the incident. Regional Fire Officer, Semekor Fiadzo who fears the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault pleaded for time to complete investigations.
He is happy at the swift response of his men to the scene. “Looking at the response time of Fire Service, it is encouraging. We got the distress call at 10” 30 pm and in less than nine minutes, we were here”, he explained.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Ejisu, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi who was at the scene commended the Fire Service for their swift intervention.
According to him, lives could have been lost but the timely intervention of Fire Service saved the situation.
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