Fire on Friday gutted portions of the popular Yegoala Hotel in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
The fire started around 2:00pm at the Ahodwo branch of the hotel, another of which is also located at Dansoman in Accra.
However, there were no casualties as clients and staff who were in some rooms, the conference hall and in the restaurant were moved to safety.
According to an eyewitness who spoke to Citi News’ Lauretta Timah on condition of anonymity, the fire Service arrived an hour late.
He said every client of the hotel is safe.
“We were having a workshop there and we saw smoke coming from one of the rooms and so we quickly called for a fire extinguisher but before we knew, it spread to the other rooms. So we called the fire service who came in but for the past one-hour they’ve been trying to put out the fire; all my people who came for the workshop, 75 of them were quickly evacuated and everybody is safe. Tony Yeboah himself was also around and we all fine. Everything is under control,” he noted.
The Manageress of the Hotel, Ruby Okyere, told Lauretta Tima that the fire may have started from their store room.
She was dissatisfied with the time it took for the fire fighters to arrive at the scene, saying it took them nearly 30 minutes after several distress calls.
“I cannot give u a comprehensive report because we were just standing there looking at the clients having their lunch so after lunch they were going up to continue with the conference; but when they went up they heard a sound and later saw smoke coming out of the building. The clients started calling fire service but the response wasn’t too quick. Eventually they came and put off the fire but the harm has already been done. The Fire service must always be alert and ready to move else their delays always cost us to lose property and sometimes live.”
Yegoala hotels are owned by retired Ghanaian footballer Tony Yeboah.
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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana
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Photos By: Lauretta Timah