A gasoline tanker at a gas station exploded and appears to have caused a second explosion around 7:30 p.m. local time in Legon, Ghana, causing a fireball which local residents in the capital of Accra could be seen for kilometers.
Ghana Information Minister Mustapha Hamid confirmed on Sunday October 8th that at least seven people are dead, and 132 others injured. “An investigation has commenced into the cause of the explosion and shall be followed with firm action to forestall future similar recurrences,” Hamid said in the statement.
64 of those injured have been discharged from hospitals; 68 remain.
Ghana National Fire Service officials were still on the scene around 10:30 p.m. local time on Saturday the 7th bringing the ensuing fire under control and to prevent it from spreading.
Another explosion. Same place. Atomic Junction. PLEASE STAY AWAY. I felt the heat from 3 Kilometers away. It's crazy!!!! pic.twitter.com/8ZueUKGFb4
— Lantana (@ronnieamofa) October 7, 2017
Early reports purport that the explosion occurred at or near a gas station near Atomic Junction north of Accra, near the suburb of Madina, when a tanker was delivering fuel to the gas station. The location of the blast is near the northeast corner of the University of Ghana postgraduate campus.
Police have reportedly cordoned off the MANSCO Gas Filling Station where the explosion occurred.
A witness told Reuters at least six fire trucks and several ambulances responded to the scene.
Wtf is going on in Ghana ? pic.twitter.com/DkGS62UnyS
— … (@_afuarose) October 7, 2017
Accra, the capital of Ghana, has an estimated population of around 2.3 million people. The Greater Accra Region, the smallest of Ghana’s 10 administrative regions which includes Medina and Accra, is estimated to house a population of nearly 3 million.
An explosion in 2015 at another gas station in the center of Accra killed at least 108 people.