No fewer than 17 people were said to have been killed with 59 others injured, on Thursday, in an explosion that rocked part of a town in western Ghana.
It was learnt from government report that tragedy struck when a truck carrying explosives collided with a motorcycle.
Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said in a statement released overnight that “A total of 17 people have, unfortunately, been confirmed dead, and 59 injured people have been rescued.”
The Ghanaian president said that a truck carrying explosives collided with a motorcycle in western Ghana Thursday, causing an immense explosion and a huge “loss of lives.”
The accident happened around noon in Apiate, near the city of Bogoso some 300 kilometres (180 miles) west of the mineral-rich West African country’s capital, Accra.
Saying the blast caused “the loss of lives and the destruction of properties,” Nana Akufo-Addo added in a tweet, “It is a truly sad, unfortunate and tragic incident.”
Local police released a statement saying that a “preliminary investigation has established that a mining vehicle carrying explosives… collided with a motorcycle resulting in the explosion.
“Most of the victims have been rescued” and taken to various area hospitals, the statement said.
Dr Joseph Darko, working at Apiate hospital, told AFP that five of the casualties had been taken there, “including a five-year-old child who is in a life-threatening condition.”
Reinforcements were said to have been deployed to the scene and people near the blast had been asked to move to nearby villages, the police added, while appealing for calm.
Ghana has suffered a series of gas explosions in recent years caused by leaking fuel.
In 2017, at least, three people were killed and dozens injured after a tanker truck carrying natural gas caught fire in Accra, triggering explosions at two fuel stations and killing three people.
Accra was the scene of a similar fire and explosion in June 2015 when more than 150 people died as they sought shelter from seasonal rains and flooding at a petrol station. The blaze was believed to have spread by fuel on the floodwater.
The incidents sparked outrage among the citizens on social media about the safety of filling stations, many of which are located near schools, hospitals and businesses.
AFP.
