Kumasi: Fire guts Afful Nkwanta slum, displacing residents
Scores of residents at Afful Nkwanta, a congested informal settlement in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region, have been displaced following a destructive fire that swept through the area at dawn.
The blaze, which occurred between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., reduced several wooden structures—used as makeshift homes by scrap dealers and head porters—to ashes. The affected residents, many of whom are migrants from northern Ghana seeking better livelihoods, lost all their belongings in the fire.
Despite the scale of destruction, no casualties were recorded. However, the layout of the settlement, marked by closely packed structures, made it difficult for emergency responders to access the scene.
One of the victims, Mahammud Bawah Zakaria, described the ordeal:
“We built these wooden rooms ourselves without any proper arrangement. When something like this happens, it becomes very difficult for fire officers to come in. The fire started very early while people were just waking up. Some say it was deliberate, others suspect a gas explosion, but we are grateful no lives were lost. I personally lost six rooms—it is painful, but we leave everything to Allah.”
Residents have since begun clearing the debris, hoping to rebuild, even as questions linger over the cause of the fire.
The incident follows a similar fire outbreak in a nearby slum earlier this year, which also displaced dozens and destroyed properties.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Jacob Agyenim Boateng
