At least 200 female students at the Wa Senior High Technical School (SHTS) in the Upper West Region have been displaced, following fire outbreak that razed the top floor of a two-storey dormitory at the school on Sunday night.
The fire, which started around 8pm, destroyed personal belongings, provisions and stationery, amounting to hundreds of Ghana Cedis.
Eight students fainted from panic after seeing the raging flames, and were rushed to the Wa Municipal Hospital.
The Deputy Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Assistant Divisional Fire Officer (DOIII), Imran Iddrisu, led the team of fire fighters to quench the fire.
DOIII Iddrisu said the cause of the fire, which burnt five rooms on the top floor of the building, was not known, but investigation had commenced to ascertain the cause.
Meanwhile the Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Abdul Razak Korah, visited the school in the company of other staff to ascertain the extent of damage.
He said the GES would work with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) to mobilise resources for affected students.
“At the moment, accommodation will not be a problem because they can manage in the rooms available and the school also has enough mattresses for those who lost theirs in the fire,” Mr Korah said.
He said that “only affected students would be allowed to go home on request in order to recover from the shock”.
Mr Korah said for those who wanted to stay, “the GES would seek support from NADMO to provide them with personal items to continue with their academic work.”
Meanwhile, the director, together with personnel of the GNFS and the PTA, visited students who were taken to the hospital.
FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK & LYDIA FORDJOUR, WA
