An explosion at a gas station in the African nation of Ghana killed at least one person and injured several others, according to government officials and news reports.
Officials told local news outlets that a fire broke out at a gas station in the capital, Accra, and then spread to another station. Videos on social media showed giant balls of flames that set the night sky aglow.
Abu Ramadan, an official with the National Disaster Management Organization, told JoyNews late on Saturday that at least one person had been killed. He cautioned that emergency responders had not been able to access a convenience store at the gas station and said it was unclear whether anyone was inside.

He said 10 people had been injured in the chaos of people fleeing.

The deputy information minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, said a “significant number of persons” were affected by the explosion and “a few” had died.

“There was some panic and we all just moved away from the scene,” George Agbey, who was near the explosion, told The Associated Press. “It was like refugees moving away from a war-torn zone.”
Firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze, which apparently engulfed at least one fuel tanker. By late Saturday, officials said the fire was about 95 percent contained and no longer posed a threat.
On Twitter, Accra city officials warned of an explosion in the Legon and Madina areas around 7:30 p.m. local time. Broadcast news reports showed scenes of destruction and some flames as onlookers milled about.

The explosion is at least the second to rock the capital since 2015. Another explosion at a gas station in the center of Accra killed roughly 100 people in June of that year.

Source: NYTimes