“They Pelted Our Men With Stones” — Fire Service Condemns Attack on Firefighters at Adubinsu Explosion
The Ghana National Fire Service has spoken out against the shocking treatment its personnel endured while responding to the deadly fuel tanker explosion at Adubinsu in the Afigya Kwabre South District of the Ashanti Region — revealing that firefighters were physically attacked by residents even as they battled to save lives and contain the blaze.
Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer DOII Atta Aheng Mensah, speaking on Accra-based Channel One Newsroom, disclosed that sections of the crowd pelted firefighters with stones and sachet water as they worked at the scene, significantly hampering rescue and firefighting efforts at a moment when every second counted.
He said it took the intervention of elderly community members to restrain the youth and allow emergency personnel to carry out their work.
“When our men got to the scene, they were met with hostilities. We plead with civilians to desist from that.
Such behaviour will not be tolerated. There was a lot of stone pelting and even sachet water throwing. It took the intervention of some of the elderly people there to calm the youth down for our men to work,” he stated.
The explosion occurred in the early hours of Thursday, June 4, when a fuel tanker travelling from Edwenase toward Adubinsu reportedly lost control, somersaulted and burst into flames.
The resulting inferno killed two people, gutted six container shops and damaged a nearby house before firefighters eventually brought it under control and prevented it from spreading further.
The GNFS has used the incident to issue a firm appeal to the public, stressing that obstructing or attacking emergency responders not only puts the lives of those responders at risk but directly undermines efforts to protect lives and property during critical situations — and that such conduct will not be tolerated.
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