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A scene at the Fire Festival in Tamale

Two die, others injured in Fire Festival

Two persons lost their lives last Friday in the celebration of this year's Fire Festival (Bugum Festival) which is celebrated in some communities in the Northern Region.

One person died when a vehicle ran through a crowd celebrating the festival at Sang, the capital of the Mion District on Friday night, while the other man was butchered at Walewale in the West Mamprusi District.

 

15 other people also sustained various degrees of injury in Tamale as a result of firing of muskets, throwing of fire crackers and the display of naked fires.

In the Sang incident, an irate youth among the crowd set ablaze the vehicle in retaliation. The driver, for fear of his life, absconded. He managed to escape unhurt.

In the Tamale incident, nine out of the 15, who were injured, were treated and discharged at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), while four others are said to be in critical condition at the same hospital.

Police briefing

The Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr Ebenezer Tetteh, told the Daily Graphic that two females, Rahma Zakaria, 22, and Shamira Mohammed, 28, who also sustained severe injuries and reported at the TTH Emergency Unit, later sneaked out for no apparent reason.

He said at about 12 midnight that Friday, a resident by name Rashida Abdul Aziz, 22, of Kukuo in Tamale, who had gone out to join in the celebration, suffered severe burns on her face and left eye from gun powder that she came into contact with.

In another incident at Changili, ASP Tetteh said Nasiru Huzeifa, 15, was allegedly hit with the butt of a gun on her head by an unknown person, opening a deep cut on her head.

He said in the same area, Sumalai Muftaw, 22, in a musketry display, sustained severe injuries on the left hand when his gun exploded.

In another incident, Iddrisu Abdul Rauf, 20, who was also in the procession, sustained injuries from gunshots by an unknown person at Lamashegu in Tamale.

Reactions

Some residents, who the Daily Graphic spoke to, said there was low patronage of this year's festival, compared to the previous years.

They attributed the situation partly to some security and safety concerns that were raised a day before the celebration for which reason many people decided to stay at home.

Meanwhile, the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, who is also the Chairman of the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC), at a health walk organised a day after the event by the United Nations office in Tamale to mark its 70th anniversary, said this year's Bugum Festival was peaceful.

He commended the chiefs and people in the region for the peaceful celebrations and urged them to continue to sustain the peace and stability in the region which was key to the development of the region.

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