Three siblings burn to death in Sefwi Bibiani

Three siblings – one boy and two girls – have burned to death at Sefwi Bibiani-California, also known as Gyidimu, in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai municipal area of the Western North Region.

The children – Timothy Aseda Anna Ducan, four, Shiverra Ducan, three, and Debora Adom Nkrumah Ducan, 11 months – were confirmed dead at the Bibiani Government Hospital.

An uncle of the deceased, Oti Mensah Joseph, who spoke to Adom News’s Augustine Boah, described the incident as shocking.

According to him, he takes care of the children during the day and only returns them to their parents at night.

He said it was around 10pm on Wednesday, that he received a call with the news of their death.

Mensah Joseph was told a fire had gutted his sister’s apartment, resulting in the death of all three children.

In shock

“When I got there around 10.55pm, the children were already dead. It was very sad. One is four years old, the other is three years old and the youngest is just 11 months old.

“While my sister escaped with limited injuries, her husband, who tried to rescue the children, got hurt.

“All their properties got burned,” he told Adom News. “I have my younger sister staying with them and she also lost everything. The room after theirs also got burnt.”

The assemblyman for the electoral area, who is also a close relative of the family, Samuel Kwagyiri, told Adom News that residents are still in shock.

According to him, the mother’s cry for help attracted residents who tried to rescue the children.

“It was around 10.45pm that I heard of the fire. By the time I got there, everything was burnt.

“The mother was in the house with the children, who were sleeping in the bedroom. The husband had gone out to buy something when the fire started.

Fruitless rescue

“The smoke came from the bedroom where the children were sleeping. By the time she noticed it, the bedroom was on fire, so she rushed out for help. The people who came around to help could not rescue the children because of the heat.

“It was the father of the children who asked to be covered with a wet blanket so he could go and rescue his children but he couldn’t and he also got burnt in the process.”

Meanwhile, the parents, Stella and Unas Ducan, have been admitted at the Bibiani Government Hospital, where they are undergoing treatment.

The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the hospital morgue.