Fire guts Ghanass girls’ dormitory
School officials of the Ghana Senior High School (GHANASS) at Effiduase near Koforidua in the Eastern Region have closed down the institution following last Thursday’s fire which destroyed the girls dormitory.
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“The school’s administration has instructed students in Forms One and Two to go home leaving behind the final-year students, who are to study in preparation for this year’s West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), a Member of Parliament (MP) for New Juaben North, Nana Akwasi Adjei-Boateng, has disclosed.
Fire damage
On March 17, fire gutted the two-storey Nightingale block - an all female block at 7p.m. while the students were at Prep.
Some of the students had their properties, including school uniforms, exercise books, and other materials totally destroyed by the fire. No casualty was recorded.
Nana Adjei-Boateng, who visited the school yesterday to assess the extent of damage, told Accra-based Joy FM that measures were being put in place to deal with the problem.
"We are looking at how we can resolve this problem immediately and then look at the medium to long-term challenges. Immediately, we have to find some arrangement to house the girls, about 200 of them, who have been affected", the MP said after a meeting with authorities of the school.
Student narration
A female student was reported to have said they saw smoke coming out of the Nightingale block while they were studying in one of the classrooms.
According to her, they ran out and called for help but it was too late.
The fire consumed almost all the belongings of the girls.
Ten students, who were traumatised by the incident, are on admission at the St Joseph’s Hospital at Effiduase receiving treatment.
Students had to spend the night at teachers’ quarters, while others slept in classrooms.
It is still not clear what might have triggered the fire.
Meanwhile, some parents have gone to the school to withdraw their children.
“I am here to consider withdrawing my daughter since she has lost all her belongings to the fire”, a father said.
At the time of going to press, the Eastern Regional Minister, Ms Mavis Ama Frimpong had visited the school to commiserate with the students and the authorities.