A two-year-old boy was burnt beyond recognition when two Diesel tankers caught fire near a filling station at Apremdo in the Effia-Kwesimitsim Municipality of the Western Region.
The boy was sleeping in a metal container close to the scene when the unfortunate incident occurred.
According to sources, the Diesel tankers were parked behind the filling station, awaiting orders from pump managers to discharge fuel into reservoirs.
The cause of the inferno was not immediately known, but some of the residents claimed that at about 3:00pm, they heard a blast from where the tankers were parked and realised the place was up in smoke.
“Most of the people in the area, including the mother of the two-year-old boy who was selling in the container, started running away to safety. The mother later realised that her two-year-old boy was sleeping in the metal container and before she decided to go back for the little boy, the inferno had gutted the container,†an eyewitness narrated.
The eyewitness said the mother of the boy was seriously injured when she tried to go and rescue him and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
When DGN Online got to the area at about 3:15pm, heavy dark smoke could be seen in the skies.
Most of the people there were seen praying for the firemen to extinguish the fire because it was getting close to nearby pump stations and a market.
Before the fire was brought under control, more than half a dozen metal containers had been razed by the wildfire.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Ghana National Fire Service in the Western Region, Emmanuel Bonney, said the fire fighters were able to bring the fire under control some few minutes after arriving at the scene.
He cautioned the public against rushing to fire scenes to take pictures and converging around since they put their lives at risk.
Source: Daily Guide Network