Ghana: Fire guts 10-storey Foreign Ministry

  1. Posted on Thursday 22 October 2009 - 07:57
    accreporter
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    Kent Mensah, AfricaNews editor in Accra, Ghana Photo credit: Myjoyonline.com
    Ravaging fire consumed the 10-storey building of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of West African nation of Ghana on Wednesday evening. Officials of the ministry and other government figures returned to work on Thursday to see a skeleton structure with smoke bellowing through the windows into the sky.
    fire in ghana
    Fire men were still at the fire scene on Thursday morning. Media reports quoted fire officials saying three floors – the minister, the deputy minister and public relations department – had been secured and safe from destruction.

    Speaking from Malawi, the Foreign Affairs Minister Alhaji Mohammed Mumuni told Joy FM that there must be forensic investigations into the incident in the wake of a previous fire outbreak at the Ministry of Information.

    Mumuni said the situation poses serious diplomatic implication for Ghana. However, he said the ministry has a backup system but could not tell of its reliability.

    The minister suggested the relocation and reconstruction of a new Foreign Ministry that “can house the institutional memory bank” of the ministry. “However, this is coming at the time we are facing all kinds of budgetary challenges and crunch,” he said.

    He noted that information reaching him indicate the central archive of the ministry is intact. He added that it is possible to assemble a chunk of the lost data from the missions abroad.

    There is no official statement yet on the cause of the fire. However, a deputy minister of interior had hinted there would be investigations into the incident.

    A fire officer according to Joy FM was rushed to the hospital when debris fell on him.

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