Preliminary investigations conducted by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) into the fire outbreak which burnt two people to death at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality, reveal it was caused by a piece of lighted cigarette.

Alex Antwi, 35, and his 17-year-old girl, Sharifa Adiza were burnt beyond recognition when fire razed a four-bedroom house at Fiapre, near Sunyani in the early hours of Thursday, January 18, 2024.

Eight other occupants of the house, including five children, managed to escape unhurt from the fire said to have started around 1230 hours.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the Divisional Officer Grade III (DO III), the Reverend Thomas Kofi Dzah, in-charge of Fire at the Bono Regional Command of the GNFS, said: “Our initial investigation showed the fire might have been caused by a piece or butt of a lighted cigarette”.

The police had since retrieved and deposited the charred bodies of the deceased at the Sunyani Teaching Hospital mortuary for preservation.

Meanwhile, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister and Mr Evans Kusi Buadum, the Sunyani West Municipal Chief Executive have since visited and commiserated with the bereaved families.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, the Regional Minister entreated the bereaved families to take comfort in God and assured her commitment to support them in the burial and funeral rites of the deceased.