5 killed, 42 injured in gas explosion, fire in Ghana

Scene at the exploded gas station

Five people were killed and 42 others were severely burnt in the Thursday night fire resulting from an explosion at a gas station in Ghana’s capital Accra, authorities said on Friday.

The five killed were attendants of the Louis Gas Station behind the Trade Fair site. They were helping in discharging the gas from a tanker when an explosion suddenly occurred between 6 pm and 7 pm on Thursday, Accra Regional Police spokesperson Effia Tenge told the media.

Meanwhile, 42 others who sustained various degrees of burns are on admission at the 37 Military Hospital, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the Police Hospital and the La General Hospital, she said.

As of Friday morning, the vicinity of the fire incident had been cordoned off by the police to prevent further injuries as gas continued to leak from the station that caught fire.

“We appeal to the general public not to venture to come near the disaster site until the rest of the gas is safely evacuated as it poses great danger to humans,” ASP Tenge urged.

Officials said the fire resulting from the explosion also spread to the nearby Trade Fair site, destroying properties including vehicles, office structures and equipment.

“It took us two hours to bring the fire at the gas station under control, while the one that gutted the Trade Fair came under control around 2 am on Friday,” said Ebenezer Simpson, Deputy Chief Fire Officer for Ghana disclosed.

According to him, an investigation is underway into the cause of the explosion and fire.

On Friday morning , the National Petroleum Authority had brought a gas tanker to siphon the rest of the gas away at the gas station to make the place safe for humans to pass by.

Source: Xinhua