Ghana has been thrown into a state of mourning as over 190 dead bodies including a baby girl believed to be one-year-old have been carted to the morgue after a heavy downpour in the capital, Accra.
There was a loud explosion at the GOIL Fuel Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle adjacent the GCB Towers during the torrential rains. Hundreds of workers had gathered in front of a Pharmacy Shop near the Filling Station for protection until the rains will subside, but met their untimely deaths after the explosion. Several people were trapped indoors since the streets were flooded while the fire spread to where they were seeking refuge following a fuel leakage which covered the water. Dozens of passengers in commercial vehicles as well as private cars which had gone to buy fuel as well as park for safety at the time of the flood, were also trapped and died subsequently during the explosion.
The Ghana National Fire Service managed to bring the wild fire under control Thursday dawn after struggling several hours to douse it. It is, however, unclear what sparked the inferno at the Service Station behind the GCB Towers and opposite the Vienna City night club. The inferno followed hours of heavy downpour in the capital that led to power outages in several communities. Catastrophic President John Mahama who described the disaster as "catastrophic" served notice the government will be ruthless and robust with anyone who builds on waterways as Ghana mourns. "We have to take some measures to avoid this in the future. Often when these measures are drastic, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take these measures. But I think the time has come for us to move houses out of the waterways. The public should understand that it is necessary to take such measures to save everybody else," Mahama told the media at the scene. "This loss of life is catastrophic, almost unprecedented. A lot of people have lost their lives. I am at a loss of words to express how I feel. Many of them through the floods, many still through and many still through the fire incident as a result of the explosion that took place. "Yesterday, the emergency services, including the military, police and the fire service were all called out to come and help. They managed to rescue a large number of people but unfortunately a large number of people lost their lives." Among other known personalities who have visited the disaster scene are ex-President JJ Rawlings, Nana Akufo-Addo, Accra Mayor Alfred Oko Vanderpuijje and the chairmen of political parties including NPP's Paul Afoko, Kofi Portuphy of the ruling NDC and Samia Nkrumah of the CPP.
There was a loud explosion at the GOIL Fuel Station at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle adjacent the GCB Towers during the torrential rains. Hundreds of workers had gathered in front of a Pharmacy Shop near the Filling Station for protection until the rains will subside, but met their untimely deaths after the explosion. Several people were trapped indoors since the streets were flooded while the fire spread to where they were seeking refuge following a fuel leakage which covered the water. Dozens of passengers in commercial vehicles as well as private cars which had gone to buy fuel as well as park for safety at the time of the flood, were also trapped and died subsequently during the explosion.
The Ghana National Fire Service managed to bring the wild fire under control Thursday dawn after struggling several hours to douse it. It is, however, unclear what sparked the inferno at the Service Station behind the GCB Towers and opposite the Vienna City night club. The inferno followed hours of heavy downpour in the capital that led to power outages in several communities. Catastrophic President John Mahama who described the disaster as "catastrophic" served notice the government will be ruthless and robust with anyone who builds on waterways as Ghana mourns. "We have to take some measures to avoid this in the future. Often when these measures are drastic, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take these measures. But I think the time has come for us to move houses out of the waterways. The public should understand that it is necessary to take such measures to save everybody else," Mahama told the media at the scene. "This loss of life is catastrophic, almost unprecedented. A lot of people have lost their lives. I am at a loss of words to express how I feel. Many of them through the floods, many still through and many still through the fire incident as a result of the explosion that took place. "Yesterday, the emergency services, including the military, police and the fire service were all called out to come and help. They managed to rescue a large number of people but unfortunately a large number of people lost their lives." Among other known personalities who have visited the disaster scene are ex-President JJ Rawlings, Nana Akufo-Addo, Accra Mayor Alfred Oko Vanderpuijje and the chairmen of political parties including NPP's Paul Afoko, Kofi Portuphy of the ruling NDC and Samia Nkrumah of the CPP.
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