Four Saved From Fire At Asafo (PHOTO)

Four persons, including a 72-year-old woman who were trapped in their apartment in a three-storey building at Asafo in Kumasi due to a fire outbreak, went through a harrowing experience yesterday.

It took a daring rescue effort by neighbours and passersby to bring the victims, who kept calling for help, to safety.

Even though the rescue effort was a dangerous one, none of the victims or rescuers suffered any injury.

The affected building, which is close to the palace of the Asafohene, attracted a large number of people to the scene.

Terrible minutes

It took the courageous rescue team of youth numbering eight about 15 minutes to push their way to the top of the storey building.

They climbed the pillars on the corridors to save the victims who were all women.

The rescuers also entered rooms in the building and brought out gas cylinders which could have worsened the blaze.

Before personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service arrived at the scene, the youth had quenched the fire with water from the neighbourhood.

Victim

The 72-year-old woman, Madam Ama Konadu, said she was happy to be alive and unhurt.

She told the Daily Graphic she was grateful to her rescuers for saving her life.

According to her, she was taking a nap in her room, which was next to the one which caught fire, when she heard calls for everyone to get out of the building.

“Not long after, I saw smoke all over my window so I rushed into the corridor”, she said, adding that she could not have used the staircase because it had been clouded in smoke.

She stated that even though she was all right, she would nonetheless visit a nearby clinic to check her blood pressure since her heart had been beating faster than normal.