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Fire razes Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs building to
the ground
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, Oct 22, Ghanadot - Fire on Wednesday evening razed the
entire 10-storeyed building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in Accra.
The fire started from the ground floor at about 1700
hours and workers called the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS)
for help, but it took a long time for them to respond,
a senior officer at the Ministry who spoke to the Ghanadot on
condition of anonymity has revealed.
According to him, the workers attempted to fight the fire with
available fire extinguishers but to no avail as the fire were
aided by strong sea breeze. When the firemen arrived they could
do very little because they lacked the basic equipment to fight
the fire which had engulfed the building. Jet spray from their
fire tenders could not reach the third floor. No casualty has
yet been reported.
Vital documents lost to the fire
Most of the documents, including those dating back to Ghana's
independence from Britain in 1957, were burnt in the inferno
which started early in the evening.
"This is a big blow to us. In fact all our documents have been
destroyed by the fire. Everything is a total mess," said Victor
Gbeho, presidential Adviser of Foreign Affairs told journalists
at the scene.
The cause of the fire could not be immediately established. And
the fire fighters were tight-lipped at least for now.
Even, this year alone, this is the second time fire has gutted a
ministry building. Earlier, this year, fire razed part of the
building of the Ministry of Information.
Ghanadot
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