Sunyani (B/A), Feb 12, GNA - Personal belongings estimated at 500 million cedis were burnt into ashes when fire engulfed a house at Nkwabeng North in Sunyani on Tuesday.

The house constructed 10 years ago belonged to Mr Emmanuel Rees Oppong, a 58-year-old Ghanaian living in Canada.

Narrating the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani on Wednesday, Madam Mercy Oppong, occupant and wife of Mr. Oppong, said she detected a smoke from one of the rooms at about 9AM and "before I could think of what to do fire had engulfed the whole house".

"I rang the Sunyani Fire Service but when they arrived, the fire had assumed a dangerous dimension and all attempts to put it off proved futile," she said.

Madam Oppong, a hairdresser, said all her belongings an amount of five million cedis got burnt.

When contacted the Sunyani District Fire Officer, Mr. Atta Takyi, confirmed the incident but said field staff had not submitted their report and could not tell what actually caused the fire. Madam Oppong is putting up in her hairdressing saloon near the burnt house.