<<Print>>The committee set up by government to investigate the June 3rd flood and fire disasters at the Kwame Nkrumah circle is accusing one Seth Kwesi Ofosu of causing the fire. The committee believes a lit cigarette smoked by Mr Ofosu caused the fire. The committee is not clear yet whether the action by the suspect was deliberate.
He was said to be smoking during the rainstorm but failed to completely put out the cigarrete and when the naked fire got in contact with the rain water mixed with leaked fuel from the goil station disaster struck. Over 150 people died on that black Wednesday night. Government set up a committee to look into the cause of the fire and make recommendations to prevent such disasters in the future. After weeks of investigation which saw committee members move to the disaster zone on a number of occasions the report is finally out.
According to the committee the "flooding of Kwame Nkrumah was the remote cause of the fire." "The displacement of fuel from the Goil Filling station at Kwame Nkrumah Circle was the intermediate cause." "The dropping of the lit cigarette stub by Seth Kwesi Ofosu onto the floating fuel was the ultimate or immediate cause of the fire" the committee report averred. "We are not in the position to determine his [Ofosu] actual status so we have handed him to the security agencies to investigate and arrive at a conclusion whether or not he intentionally caused arson. "...Whether he was aware there was fuel on top of the flood waters or not is not clear to us so we have asked the security agencies to investigate properly and come to a conclusion on that matter," Chairman of the committee Mr Justice Isaac Delali Douse, said at press conference to announce the findings. Mr Ofosu is said to be assisting in investigation.
The report said 154 people died with the same number of people sustaining varying degrees of injuries. "Five houses including the Goil Filling Station suffered various degrees of damage as a result of the fire." The properties are valued at 1,658,847.00. The committee is recommending dredging and desilting of the Odaw river and its tributaries as well as creation of a sanitation police force.