Explosion: 42-yr-old farmer,wife and three children burnt in flamed petrol

Explosion: 42-yr-old farmer,wife and three children burnt in flamed petrol

A 42-year-old farmer,Alhassan Musah,his wife and their three children are currently in a critical condition at the West Gonja Catholic hospital in the Northern region of Ghana after they got burnt in flamed petrol.

The incident happened in Kotito Number II, a small farming community in Damongo in the West Gonja District of Northern region Monday morning.

Musah Alhassan, identified to be a branch youth organiser of the opposition National Democratic Congress in Kotito Number II, aside farming,retails petrol to community members.

He usually buys the petrol in drums from Buipe in the Central Gonja District and retails to customers in a bid to put body and soul together.

Luck however eluded Alhassan Musah and his family when a lit pot of charcoal flamed uncontrollably.The situation aggravated when spilled petrol inundated the entire room and the fire spread throughout the room,worsening the situation.

Narrating the incident,an eyewitness disclosed that,it all started when Alhassan Suraya,12-year old daughter of Alhassan Musah who was involved in a motor accident the preceding day to the unfortunate event complained of severe cold at around 3:00am.

The mother of little Suraya,30-year-old Sala Alhassan was compelled to set fire that night in a coal pot to palliate the cold of her daughter.She decided to pour some petrol onto the charcoal from a gallon and struck a match to lit the fire.It skipped madam Sala to close the gallon containing the fuel which was just few meters away from the lit fire in the coal pot.

At this time,the entire family,aside Sala and her daughter were fast asleep.The lit fire gradually 'travelled' to the gallon unknown to Sala and out of dread she attempted to throw the flamed gallon outside the room, but unfortunately ended up closing the door.

The petrol inundated the entire room and the fire flamed uncontrollably...There was no escape route for the family of five as the closed door was flaming as well.It took the prompt intervention of neighbours to demolish part of the room to rescue the victims.Properties worth thousands of Ghana cedis got burnt in the process.

None of the family members escaped the fate, as all five, got severely burnt in the flamed petrol and rushed to the West Gonja hospital.

The man and his wife who are worst hit by the incident,have been referred to the Tamale Teaching hospital after hospital staff handling the cases indicated that their situation was beyond the hospital's management.

Mr.Alhassan Braimah,who is in charge of the Emmergency Unit at the hospital confirmed the Incident to Ghanwebs' Ananpansah B Abraham,stating that,the three children(Mohammed Alhassan-16, Alhassan Suraya-12 and Samed Suraya-8) would however be on admission at the West Gonja hospital.

He said they have placed a request for ambulance support from Sawla to assist in conveying the victims to the Tamale Teaching hospital, since the hospital has only one ambulance which could not serve the purpose.

He disclosed that,the initial cost of treating the five patients, including the ambulance fee stands at Ghc2,500.00.

Source:Ananpansah B Abraham(AB)//ghanaweb.com