PHOTO: 2 more bodies found at Goil fire explosion

• Posted on August 11, 2015August 11, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Two suspected victims of the June 3 twin flood and fire disaster at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra, were yesterday recovered in a building housing the burnt Bediako Pharmacy very close to the GOIL filling station where the inferno occurred, killing more than 154 people.

Weeks after search for bodies was declared close, people were still searching for missing relatives, leading to the discovery of the bodies.

DAILY GUIDE’s findings indicated that one Kwadwo Safo, who lived with his uncle in the building housing the pharmacy, decided to ransack the debris left after the tragedy and in the process, discovered the bodies in the evening of Sunday, August 9, and alerted the Adabraka police.

The police and officials of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) however, came to the scene yesterday and retrieved only a male body partially decomposed, but a female body could not be retrieved because it had completely decomposed, leaving only her wig.

A visit by DAILY GUIDE to the scene after the body of the male victim – who was described by eyewitnesses as very tall and could be between 40 and 50 years old – had been taken away, saw people discussing the new development.

According to them, NADMO and Fire Service officials who were charged to retrieve the bodies two months ago, seemed not to have completed their work because after the bodies of other victims had been retrieved, people trading and living in the area were constantly complaining about strong stench emanating from that building.

An eyewitness, Augustine Nkrumah, who accordingly led the police and officials of NADMO to retrieve the latest victim, told the paper that large pools of water were still found in the Bediako Pharmacy building.

Incidentally, the new bodies were discovered two days after the committee set up by the president to investigate the cause of the fire – which principally accused one Seth Kwesi Ofosu of causing the fire after smoking and throwing the glowing butt of the cigarette at the filling station where leaked fuel was floating on flood water – had presented its report to the Interior Minister, Mark Woyongo.

The committee was chaired by former court of appeal judge, Justice Isaac Delali Duose.

Many people, including lawyers, have raised questions about the report, especially the recommendation that the fire was caused by Kwesi  Ofosu.

A renowned private legal practitioner, Kwame Akuffo, speaking on the report on Okay FM yesterday, said the report smacks of suspicion.

According to him, the government, which has a strong interest in the matter and controls Goil where the fire occurred, could not by itself set up the committee to investigate the matter.

Other traders and workers at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle who were fortunate to escape the disaster, also did not believe that a glowing butt of cigarette could cause the fire.

Logic Defied

According to the traders, the report defies logic since the rain was heavy and the water level  at the scene was up to neck level  and that it was never possible for Kwesi Ofosu or any other smoker, to stand in that flood to smoke.

There had been rumours about what caused the fire on that fateful night, with some residents claiming it might have been caused by the thunder storm that struck that Wednesday night.

By Thomas Fosu Jnr, Solomon Ofori and Melvin Tarlue