The Ashanti Regional Police has arrested five persons who attacked and assaulted personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) during a fire outbreak at the Race Course Market in Kumasi.
The officers, responding to a distress call on the fire in the market, early Monday, were seriously assaulted by some youth in the area.
The youth claimed that the officers had delayed in responding to the call to quench the fire and started pelting them with stones and clubs.
One of the officers who got injured during the attack was rushed to hospital for emergency medical attention.
The attack and assault delayed the putting-off of the fire, and in the end, about 180 shops were razed down by the fire.
The fire, which was said to have started at about 1 am on Monday, swept through a section where corn milling, fruit and vegetable sellers, foodstuff, ingredients and others operated.
Mr Simon Ben Boadu, Commander of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital Fire Station, who led the firefighting operations, attributed the
spread of the fire to the attack on the fire officers who were dispatched to the scene.
He said investigations were ongoing to identify the cause of the fire outbreak at the market.
Source: Ghana News Agency