In yet another sign of India's growing ties to Africa, 80 fire tenders have been provided to the national fire service of the West African nation of Ghana.
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has taken delivery of 75 water tenders and five dual purpose tenders from India under an Indian government grant in a bid to build the capacity of the firefighters to improve their services throughout the country, public affairs officer, Bill Anaglatey, has told IANS.
The consignment forms part of what the chairman of the Fire Service Council, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho, told Ghana's parliament last year about the international aid needed following the outbreak of fires in markets across the country.
At that time, he said the GNFS was expecting 75 fire tenders but, with some hydro-carbon fires also on the increase, the additional dual purpose tenders could be a boost.
Anaglatey could not tell the total value of the tenders but said, they were "to be distributed to the GNFS's offices throughout the country in a move to control the frequent outbreaks of fire".
Last year, there were several fires broke out across markets in the country and the government had to call in US experts to investigate the causes. Details of the findings have not been made public, but similar incidents have recurred this year.
In the first quarter of this year, the GNFS said it recorded 300 domestic fires, 71 bush fires, and 107 commercial fires totalling 779. The number of persons who got injured were 256 while 48 died within January and February.
Last year, a total of 5,489 fire outbreaks were recorded across the country leading to 213 deaths while 1,128 people got injured.
(Francis Kokutse can be contacted at fkokutse@gmail.com)
