Government officials in Ghana have announced that seven people have been killed in a gas explosion in the country’s capital with some 132 others sustaining injuries.
A statement issued by the country’s information minister, Mustapha Hamid on Sunday said out of the 132 injured persons 64 of them have been treated and discharged.
The government has now launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion which occurred at a fuel station at a popular location in Accra called the Atomic Junction.
Fire fighters are reported by local media to have struggled to put the fire out for over 10 hours.
Ghana’s vice president,Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who visited the scene of the explosion said the government will come out with “solid policy to deal with it once and for all. This is one too many”.
Watch till the end #AtomicExplosion pic.twitter.com/Q4O46iFdTI
— Malik Ofori (@malikofori) October 7, 2017
“Some new policies are going to come in and those who will try to resist I don’t think they will be listened to because we have to put the lives of our people above anything else. We are going to move quite quickly to do it. We pretty much have an idea what we need to do,” Dr. Bawumia said after visiting some of those injured at the hospital.
Ghana’s President Akufo-Addo who is outside Accra said he was “devastated” by the incident and expressed his “deepest condolences to the families of the bereaved” and has wished the “injured speedy recovery.”
Government is resolved, now more than ever, to ensure such an incident does not occur again.
— Nana Akufo-Addo (@NAkufoAddo) October 8, 2017
Ghana’s former President John Mahama has also been expressed his sadness about the incident in a tweet.
#AtomicExplosion pic.twitter.com/cztowfs3Ps
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) October 8, 2017
This is not the first time Ghana is experiencing such a gas explosion with the latest been the eighth incident in three years. Many have died out of these explosions.
At abt 19:27GMT, leaking gas was ignited by fire in the barbecue stand of kebab seller nearby, setting off that massive #AtomicExplosion 3/5 pic.twitter.com/HZXyX2Tn5S
— Israel Laryea (@TheIsraelLaryea) October 8, 2017
Source: Africafeeds.com
