A severe fire has destroyed a school feeding facility at the Ninting R/C Primary School in the Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti Region.
The facility is used to store raw food and other items of the caterer assigned to cook meals for the school pupils as part of the school feeding programme.
The store room had been restocked with assorted food items worth about GH₵10,000 about two days before the fire incident.
The cause of the fire outbreak is still unknown, and a worrying development among the people due to the fact that the affected building had no electricity supply.
Following the incident, the Kindergarten One and Two sections of the school have been temporarily closed down for the safety of the pupils.
The decision to close down the two classes formed part of precautionary measures taken by the school authorities and other stakeholders to protect the children against accidents at the scene.
How it occurred
Information gathered indicated that the fire started around 1 am on February 3, 2026, leading to the destruction of all items in it at the time of the incident.
According to a unit committee member of the Ninting Electoral Area, Johnson Nyamekye, when the fire was noticed, they could not reach the Mampong Municipal Station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) after many distress phone calls.
He added that although the fire was brought under control at around 8 am through the efforts of some youth of the town, the fire was still active as some flames were seen inside the building.
Officials from the Mampong Municipal Directorate of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) visited the scene later, upon a formal report by the Assembly Member of the area.
Serious
The NADMO Municipal Director, Mark Hammer Yeboah, described the incident as serious, as the building had lost structural integrity, for which it had to be demolished to protect the pupils.
As an interim measure, he pledged to provide maize and other food items to be used to feed the pupils while a formal report is made to the municipal assembly for extensive support.
For her part, the caterer, Yaa Adisa Pokuaa, could not fathom how the incident occurred since the facility was not connected to the national grid, saying “all food items procured to feed the pupils, including cooking utensils, have been destroyed”.
The Schools Improvement and Support Officer of the Mampong Municipal Education Directorate, Nicholas Osei Taylor, justified the temporary closure of the pre-school department as it was intended to ensure the safety of the pupils.
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Source:
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