Trucks Transporting Explosives Hit Motorcycles In Ghana: Hundreds Of Buildings Damaged, 17 Dead,

Illustration. (Unsplash/Stephen Radford)

JAKARTA - At least 17 people were killed and 59 injured Thursday in a powerful explosion in a city in western Ghana, after a truck carrying explosives meant for a mine collided with a motorbike, the government said.

The explosion left a large crater and shattered dozens of buildings into dust-covered piles of wood and metal in Apiate, near the town of Bogoso, about 300 kilometers west of the West African nation's capital, Accra.

Footage verified by AFP showed local residents rushing towards the raging fire and billowing black smoke to inspect the damage, while rescue workers waded through the rubble to find survivors trapped in the devastation and retrieve bodies.

"A total of 17 people have unfortunately been confirmed dead, and 59 injured people have been rescued," Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said in a statement, citing The National News Jan. 21.

Minister Nkrumah said early signs indicated an "accident involving a truck transporting explosives for a mining company, a motorcycle and a third vehicle" occurred near an electrical transformer.

"Of the 59 people injured, 42 are receiving treatment at a hospital or health center and "some are in critical condition," Nkrumah added.

Meanwhile, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo called it a "truly sad, unfortunate and tragic incident" and expressed "deep condolences to the family of the deceased". The officials and eyewitnesses described the sad scene.

"It's black Thursday. So far 500 houses have been affected. Some have been completely leveled by the explosion, while others are cracked. It's almost like a ghost town now," said Sedzi Sadzi Amedonu, deputy coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization.

Abena Mintah, who witnessed the explosion, told local media the driver of the truck fell from the hold, shouting at people nearby to warn them to stay away from the burning vehicle.

"Within minutes we heard a loud explosion. I felt dizzy and fell into the bushes. I managed to get up and saw several dismembered bodies on the road," said Mintah.

The government said those in critical condition would be transferred to a hospital in Accra. Police asked surrounding villages to open their schools and churches to accommodate additional victims.

In addition, a team of police and army explosion experts were deployed to "avoid a second explosion" and implement security measures after the explosion, the government said in a press release.

Separately, Dr Isaac Dasmani, chief executive of the town of Prestea Huni-Valley where the blast occurred, told local media, "the whole community is missing" after the explosion.

"All the roofs have been torn off, some buildings have collapsed. Some are in their rooms and trapped. Unfortunately, some of them, before we were able to save them, were already dead," he told Ghana broadcaster TV3. .

Authorities had established access routes to the scene and were working to clear roads on Friday to ease traffic around the blast site, he said.

To note, Ghana has been rocked by several deadly explosions caused by fuel accidents in recent years.

In 2017, at least three people were killed and dozens injured after a tanker truck carrying natural gas caught fire in Accra, triggering explosions at two fuel stations and killing three people.

The Ghanaian capital was the scene of fires and similar explosions in June 2015, when more than 150 people died as they sought shelter from seasonal rains and flooding at a gas station. The fire is believed to have spread through fuel in the floodwaters.

Deadly accidents related to the mining sector are also common in Ghana, Africa's second-largest gold producer after South Africa, but most of them are caused by mine collapses, most of which are experienced by illegal mines.

In June, at least nine people died in the collapse of an illegal mine in northern Ghana.