Crime

Fire ravages plastic recycling factory at Kronum

Fire swept through a plastic waste recycling factory at Kronum (Cement-Mu), in the Afigya Kwabre South District of the Ashanti region, destroying machines and other items running into thousands of Ghana Cedis, on Saturday.

About five apartments on top of the factory building were badly destroyed, but other five buildings close to the factory, were partially burnt by the fire that started at about 2 a.m.

An 18-year-old boy was burnt to death as he was said to have been trapped in an attempt to use an extinguisher to fight the blazing fire in his father’s apartment.
His charred remains were discovered by the fire personnel.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Henry Giwah, Ashanti Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), confirmed the incident to the Ghanaian Times, here, but could not mention the cause of the fire, saying investigation was ongoing.

As at 10am on Sunday, the fire personnel were still at the scene to bring the situation under control.

The incident comes barely two months after a section of the Shoe Factory at Atonsu, in the Asokwa Municipality of Ashanti, that had been rented out to Polytank Company, caught fire, during a discharge of gas, destroying items running into thousands of Ghana Cedis.

Three persons were injured in the explosion when the gas tanker discharging the substance caught fire.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shut down the factory until safety regulations were met.

ACFO Giwah had said the Polytank Company ignored safety regulations, saying at least there should have been a standby fire tender.

It is recalled that a similar fire outbreak razed down a 10-bedroom rented apartment housing police personnel at Dagomba-Line, in Kumasi, on May 27, this year

The last floor of the 3-storey building was completely burnt, rendering occupants, mainly police personnel and their families homeless.

FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI

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