Many night clubs in major cities in Ghana Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi lack basic fire safety measures. That is the shocking and hard truth Ghanaians will have to learn about. Investigative teams in these four cities were not able to visit all the night clubs but those that were visited revealed a picture of risk and disaster waiting to happen. A summary of the findings in night clubs visited – Accra (7); Kumasi (5); Tema (3); and Takoradi (3) are: some of the posts DID NOT have fire extinguishers; On January 19, 2015, we carried a story – Disasters Waiting To Happen; Many Night Clubs Lack Fire Safety Measures. A month later, we went back and the situation is still the same.
Below is the original story: “Disaster Waiting TO Happen Many Night Clubs Lack Fire Safety Measures.
An Investigative Desk Report
Many night clubs in major cities in Ghana – Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi lack basic fire safety measure. That is the shocking and hard truth Ghanaians will have to learn about. Our investigative teams in these four cities were not able to visit ALL the night clubs but those that were visited revealed a picture of risk and disaster waiting to happen. A summary of the findings in the total of 18 night clubs visited – Accra (7); Kumasi (5); Tema (3) and Takoradi (3) are:
Some of the posts DID NOT have fire extinguishers; those who had fire extinguishers had expired, with some dating as far back as 2008;
Some of them did not have rear exits and those who had, those exits led to staircases;
Entrances to some of these spots were very narrow, that in the event of any possible fire outbreak, the stampede that would follow would record casualties;
Chats with some of the staff, including Managers if they had any contingency plans in the event of a possible outbreak, many of them responded in the negative;
Although many of the staff members of some of the spots admitted that they were not supposed to cook, many said they use gas to cook;
Wiring at man of the spots were old and at times, in the presence of our team, the wires touched when the machines got heated and – the final appeal is for the appropriate authorities to start checking on night spots. We are not wishing for fire outbreaks but what if they do? As a country, we must be prepared.
Culled from The Daily Dispatch
