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Findings from fire that killed Ghanaian woman and 3 children in Finland released

The woman, Nana Ago Prah and her three children died in the early hours of Friday, December 9, when their Helsinki home was razed down by fire.

Nana Ago Prah and her three children

The widower, John Owusu was at work when the incident occurred.

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It is now believed that the fire started from a sauna in their sixth-floor apartment and that the victims had died out of suffocation.

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The investigation revealed that the fire had spread from the sauna to the bathroom while the victims were probably asleep.

Saunas consist of a small room used as a steam bath for refreshing the body.

According to the investigation, cited by Helsinki Sanomat, the fire started from fabrics that were hanging on top of the sauna stove. The investigation revealed that either the mother or one of the children might have turned on the sauna in their sixth-floor apartment.

But the father, Kwame Atta Owusu has indicated that the family only used the sauna when he was at home and neither the mother nor the children knew how to use it.

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There was no fire alarm in the apartment to alert the victims about the smoke in the apartment as a result of the fire.

However, the Fire and Rescue Services arrived and realised that the main door of the apartment was open but the inner door was closed.

The indication is that the mother could have been awake at some point during the fire outbreak.

The investigators also suspect that the mother may have come out to check the situation on the staircase, but returned to the apartment afterward.

The belief is that she may have tried to help the children out of the apartment, but the inner door may not have opened due to overpressure caused by the fire.

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Since the unfortunate incident, the executives of Ghana Union Finland (GUF) have been compelled to organize interactive workshops and seminars to educate Ghanaians living in Finland on matters relating to the use of saunas, insurances, and fire alarms.

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