Almost the entire Apiate town near Bogoso in the Western Region has been destroyed following a huge explosion involving a vehicle transporting mining explosives.
The vehicle carrying explosives to Chirano Gold Mines was involved in an accident with a motorcycle – contrary to earlier reports that the explosion was caused by a gas tanker.
“Preliminary investigation has established that a mining explosive vehicle moving from Tarkwa to Chirano mines collided with a motorcycle resulting in the explosion, ” the Ghana Police Service said in a statement on January 20.
An image from the scene of the explosion
The government has deployed a large-scale rescue operation to help save persons trapped under rubble after the huge blast tore down several buildings in the Apiate community.
The emergency and rescue teams included personnel from the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Ambulance Service, the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Ghana Health Service.
“The specialized combined bomb squad of the Ghana Armed Forces and Ghana Police Service are working to clean the scene of any more explosives that have not yet gone off, ” the Deputy Director-General of Ghana’s national disaster management agency, the National Disaster Management Organization(NADMO), Abu Ramadan said to GhanaFact in an interview to reinforce an earlier call by the police for the public to move out of the area to nearby towns.
The rescue team working to transport an injured victim
“An appeal is also being made to nearby towns to open up their classrooms, churches etc to accommodate surviving victims,” the Ghana Police Service stated.
Meanwhile few hours after the accident, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo in a Tweet said: “I have just received a briefing on the circumstances that led to an explosion in Apiate near Bogoso, in the Western Region, resulting in the loss of lives and the destruction of properties belonging to residents.”
I have just received a briefing on the circumstances that led to an explosion in Apiate near Bogoso, in the Western Region, resulting in the loss of lives and the destruction of properties belonging to residents. 1/4
Chirano Gold Mines was supposed to be the final destination of the mining explosives that have now torn down the Apiate community near Bogoso in Ghana’s Western region.
In a now-deleted statement posted on the company’s Facebook page, the company revealed that the explosive delivery truck was under the supervision of a mining services contractor MAXAM.
1/ Chirano Gold Mines was supposed to be the final destination of the mining explosives that have now torn down the Apiate community near Bogoso in Ghana’s Western region.
“We are working to assist the contractor and the regulatory agencies to immediately find some remedy for the victims and the community,” a Communication Officer at Chirano Gold Mines, Kwabena Owusu Ampratwum told GhanaFact in an interview.
Many are feared dead, while others are injured following the huge explosion and according to local officials, all casualties were taken to 3 hospitals within the catchment areas.
