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Massive fire guts Duraplast factory at Avenor
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A massive fire outbreak swept through the North Industrial Area at Avenor in Accra in the early hours of Thursday, October 1, 2026, destroying properties and spreading into the premises of plastics manufacturing firm, Duraplast Ghana.
The blaze, which reportedly started around 7:30 a.m. at Kofikrom, near the ECG Avenor office, quickly intensified, sending thick plumes of smoke across the industrial enclave and forcing residents, traders and workers to flee.
Firefighters from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) are at the scene with multiple fire engines working to bring the fire under control, but operations have been hampered by poor access. Eyewitnesses say cargo trucks and the absence of accessible roads blocked routes to the fire scene, while large quantities of plastic materials in the area fuelled the blaze.
The fire has since spread into the Duraplast factory, destroying its entire pipe stock and water storage tanks.
Marketing Manager of Duraplast, Emmanuel Donkor, who arrived at the facility around 6:45 a.m., said the fire started from illegal structures behind the company’s wall.
“The challenge currently here is the illegal structures here; that is where the fire started from. It started from the illegal structures just behind our wall,” he said.
Mr. Donkor said two fire tenders initially arrived but struggled to contain the blaze. He also disclosed that the company’s fire hydrants were empty at the time of the incident.
“But all our hydrants (at Duraplast) were also empty,” he said, adding that the company had to contact Ghana Water for emergency support. 03c9
He described the losses as enormous, stating: “All our pipes have been destroyed”.
The military has since intervened to support firefighting efforts. Commanding Officer of the 48 Engineer Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Osei Amponsah, said personnel cleared temporary structures blocking access routes to allow fire engines to move closer to the affected areas.
Meanwhile, two people, including a two-week-old baby, are feared dead following the outbreak, though the GNFS says reports of fatalities remain unverified.
“We can’t confirm any dead person at this stage. Any other reports you are hearing are hearsay,” ADO1 Alex King Nartey of the GNFS Public Relations team said.
Eyewitnesses have suggested the fire may have been triggered by a gas cylinder explosion. According to one account, a woman had been cooking for her children and left the cylinder under the supervision of a child, who allegedly increased the gas flow, causing an explosion.
The GNFS says investigations will be conducted to establish the cause of the fire after containment operations are completed.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
President John Dramani Mahama will be joining African heads of state, business leaders, investors and innovators shaping Africa’s next chapter, at the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum scheduled to take place from 2nd to 4th October 2026 in the historic city of Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
The three-day Alamein Africa Forum is established as a permanent African Business Forum to convene biennially in Egypt.
It is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future.
Co-organised by the Government of Egypt, African Export – Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, it is expected to bring together more than twenty (20) heads of state and government representatives alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
Ghana’s President, who on 23rd September 2026 declared Ghana is open for business in New York after ringing the ceremonial closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market will be leading the Ghanaian delegation, to include the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu – Adjare, to the forum.
Other members of the Ghanaian delegation are the Head and Presidential Advisor for Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, Hon. Augustus Goosie Tanoh, Ghana’s Special Envoy to the Alliance of Sahel States, Colonel Larry Gbevlo – Lartey alongside key Ghanaian private sector players.
Bringing together leaders in politics, business and policy from across the continent, the Alamein Africa Forum will provide a unique opportunity to shape Africa’s growth agenda by aligning policy and investment priorities, mobilising partnerships for implementation and strengthening financing and investment pathways.
The private sector must become an integral part of Agenda 2063, the African Union’s strategic fifty-year masterplan to transform the continent. The private sector is the core economic engine required to turn the African 2063 from an aspirational government roadmap into realized infrastructure, jobs, and value-added trade.
By Chris KONEY
News
Contractors move to site to begin construction of 120-Bed Trauma Hospital at Bole – Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has revealed that contractors have moved to site to begin construction of a 120-bed Specialised Trauma and Emergency Hospital at Bole in the Savannah Region.
According to the Minister, the 16,000 square metre facility will be equipped with modern medical infrastructure to provide emergency and trauma care.
The hospital will have a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Unit, trauma resuscitation bays, emergency operating theatres, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a High Dependency Unit (HDU).
It will also include specialised trauma wards, a burns treatment unit, orthopaedic and surgical units, as well as imaging and diagnostic facilities, among others.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
