At least 17 people were on Thursday killed and 59 injured in a devastating explosion in western Ghana after a truck carrying explosives intended for a mine collided with a motorcycle, the Ghanaian government said.
The blast left a huge crater and reduced dozens of buildings to dust-covered piles of wood and metal in Apiate, near the city of Bogoso, about 300km west of the mineral-rich West African country’s capital, Accra.
Footage verified by Agence France-Presse showed locals rushing toward a raging fire and rising plumes of black smoke to inspect the damage, while rescue workers waded through the rubble to find survivors caught in the devastation and retrieve lifeless bodies.
Photo: AFP / Eric Yaw Adjei / ConnectFM / TV3
“A total of 17 people have unfortunately been confirmed dead, and 59 injured people have been rescued,” Ghanaian Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said in a statement, adding that initial signs point to “an accident involving a truck transporting explosive materials for a mining company, a motorcycle and a third vehicle,” which took place near an electrical transformer.
Out of 59 people injured, 42 are receiving treatment in hospitals or health centers and “some are in critical condition,” Nkrumah said.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo called it a “truly sad, unfortunate and tragic incident,” and expressed “deep condolences to the families of the deceased.”
Photo: AFP / Eric Yaw Adjei / ConnectFM / TV3
Officials and eyewitnesses described a scene of desolation against the sea of buildings collapsed or impaired in the carnage.
“It’s a black Thursday. So far 500 houses have been affected. Some have been razed down completely by the explosion while others have developed cracks,” Ghanaian National Disaster Management Organization Deputy Coordinator Sedzi Sadzi Amedonu told reporters. “It’s almost like a ghost town now.”
Abena Mintah, who witnessed the blast, told local media the driver of the truck dropped down from his hatch, shouting at those nearby to warn them away from the flaming vehicle.
“Within a few minutes we heard a loud bang. I felt dizzy and fell in the bush. I managed to get up and saw a few dismembered bodies on the street,” Mintah said.
The Ghanaian government said that those in critical condition would be moved to hospitals in Accra and police asked surrounding villages to open their schools and churches to accommodate any additional casualties.
A team of police and army explosion experts were deployed to “avoid a second explosion” and put in place security measures after the blast, the government said in a news release.
Isaac Dasmani, chief executive of the Prestea-Huni Valley municipality where the explosion occurred, told local media that “the whole community is gone” after the blast.
“All of the roofs have been ripped off, some of the buildings have collapsed. Some were in their rooms and were trapped. Some of them unfortunately, before we were able to rescue them, were already gone,” he said.
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