Police in the Ashanti Region have arrested five persons for allegedly assaulting fire officers responding to a fire outbreak at the Racecourse Market on Monday,March 11.
The suspects accused the fire officers of responding late to the distress call and pelted them with stones when they arrived at the scene.
As a result, one of the fire officers sustained injuries during the altercation, prompting the arrest of the five suspects.
The fire, which started around 1:am on Monday, quickly spread destroying items worth millions of Ghana cedis.
Approximately 180 container shops were engulfed by the flames, causing significant damage to property.
Traders at the market were left devastated as many were unable to salvage their items from the inferno.
Meanwhile,The Fire Commander for the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Fire Station, D.O 3 Simon Ben Boadu, attributed the fire’s rapid spread to the attack on the fire crew.
“Our preliminary investigations revealed that the fire started from one of the corn mills, and because the shops are close, it spread to other shops, we have counted about 180 shops.
“Investigations are still ongoing. We are going to pursue this to the latter. Whatever happens to them [arrested suspects] will, be a deterrent to others, that the attack on firemen must stop.
The attack was a result they believe that we delayed in getting to the scene, and the spread of the fire was a result of the congested nature of the market.
