APIATE: At least 13 people have been killed and several injured when a truck carrying explosives exploded at a gold mine in western Ghana, damaging a rural community. The police gave this information on Friday.
Smoldering wood and tattered sheet metal were marked where hundreds of houses stood in Apiate, about 200 km (130 mi) west of the capital Accra. Thursday’s eruption left a crater about 20 meters (66 ft) wide. A Reuters reporter at the scene said doors and roofs of other buildings were blown off.
Rescue workers searched the site while excavators dug up huge piles of dirt and rubble.
“We have seen damage to life and property here which is indescribable,” said Daniel Edu-Gyamphi, a student from a nearby mining college who had come to volunteer with the response team.
“Yesterday… you could see human remains all over the place.”
About 180 people were injured in the blast, police said.
In a video apparently filmed by a bystander in Apiate, people can be seen walking towards a roadside fire when a powerful explosion ripped through the settlement.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Police said a motorcycle collided with a truck, then caught fire, and a government statement suggests a roadside power transformer may have played a role.
The truck was owned by a Spanish company called Maxam that was transporting explosives chirano based in Toronto. powered by gold mine kinrose Gold Corporation, police said.
The Ministry of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement that Maxam would be suspended from manufacturing, transporting or supplying explosives for mining operations until the outcome of the investigation into the incident.
The ministry also ordered the suspension of Ghana’s Chief Inspector of Mines, who is responsible for overseeing the use of explosives in the region.
Maxum, which has 140 subsidiaries operating in more than 50 countries, did not respond to requests for comment.
Kinross said it planned to provide assistance to response efforts and relief items to those affected.
quesi ophoricThe Ghana Police Service’s director of public affairs told reporters earlier on Friday that the transport of the explosives had followed due process, and the truck had a police escort.
He said that the police is treating the crime scene as a crime scene during the investigation.
quick withdrawal
The death toll could have been even higher.
Police spokesman Ofori said there was a pause between the collision and the explosion, giving the driver time to let the community know they were in danger.
First the teachers of the nearby school were informed and the children were taken out.
“(The driver) also announced the exit of most of the community members, including the moto riders,” Ofori said.
The government said earlier on Friday that the death toll was 17, mistakenly counting four people who are alive but in critical condition, Tory said.
In a visit to Appiet, near the towns of Bavdi and Bogoso, the Vice President mahamudu bavumiya Appreciated the rescue efforts and said that the government was working to set up temporary accommodation for those who lost their homes.
“We will learn lessons and they will be much later. For now we are very concerned about how to complete this rescue effort,” he said.
Smoldering wood and tattered sheet metal were marked where hundreds of houses stood in Apiate, about 200 km (130 mi) west of the capital Accra. Thursday’s eruption left a crater about 20 meters (66 ft) wide. A Reuters reporter at the scene said doors and roofs of other buildings were blown off.
Rescue workers searched the site while excavators dug up huge piles of dirt and rubble.
“We have seen damage to life and property here which is indescribable,” said Daniel Edu-Gyamphi, a student from a nearby mining college who had come to volunteer with the response team.
“Yesterday… you could see human remains all over the place.”
About 180 people were injured in the blast, police said.
In a video apparently filmed by a bystander in Apiate, people can be seen walking towards a roadside fire when a powerful explosion ripped through the settlement.
It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Police said a motorcycle collided with a truck, then caught fire, and a government statement suggests a roadside power transformer may have played a role.
The truck was owned by a Spanish company called Maxam that was transporting explosives chirano based in Toronto. powered by gold mine kinrose Gold Corporation, police said.
The Ministry of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement that Maxam would be suspended from manufacturing, transporting or supplying explosives for mining operations until the outcome of the investigation into the incident.
The ministry also ordered the suspension of Ghana’s Chief Inspector of Mines, who is responsible for overseeing the use of explosives in the region.
Maxum, which has 140 subsidiaries operating in more than 50 countries, did not respond to requests for comment.
Kinross said it planned to provide assistance to response efforts and relief items to those affected.
quesi ophoricThe Ghana Police Service’s director of public affairs told reporters earlier on Friday that the transport of the explosives had followed due process, and the truck had a police escort.
He said that the police is treating the crime scene as a crime scene during the investigation.
quick withdrawal
The death toll could have been even higher.
Police spokesman Ofori said there was a pause between the collision and the explosion, giving the driver time to let the community know they were in danger.
First the teachers of the nearby school were informed and the children were taken out.
“(The driver) also announced the exit of most of the community members, including the moto riders,” Ofori said.
The government said earlier on Friday that the death toll was 17, mistakenly counting four people who are alive but in critical condition, Tory said.
In a visit to Appiet, near the towns of Bavdi and Bogoso, the Vice President mahamudu bavumiya Appreciated the rescue efforts and said that the government was working to set up temporary accommodation for those who lost their homes.
“We will learn lessons and they will be much later. For now we are very concerned about how to complete this rescue effort,” he said.
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