By William
Yaw Owusu
Tuesday,
October 10, 2017
Details are emerging about how the deadly gas
explosion at Atomic Junction, Madina in Accra, started.
The explosion that created huge fireballs in the sky
in the north-eastern part of Accra at about 7:30 pm on Saturday, has greatly
shocked the nation and also brought to the fore the need to tighten regulations
on how petroleum products and the operations of petrol and gas stations are
managed.
The actual cause of the explosion has not been
confirmed, but the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) appears to have deflated
the khebab-induced theory espoused by some journalists and social commentators
as having started the huge fire.
There was no sign that the khebab man operated at
that fateful hour when the explosion occurred, as his grilling stove was
covered.
Casualty
Figure
Officially, seven people - including a cameraman
working with NET2 Television in
Accra, who was stationed at the Flagstaff House, Mohammed Ashiley - are
reported dead while 132 others were said to have been injured, with 64 of them having
been treated and discharged by Sunday.
Mohammed Ashiley died in the line of duty while
covering the event for the TV station, which is not too far from the accident
scene.
Khebab
Theory
Prince Billy Anaglate, Deputy Public Relations
Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) dismissed reports suggesting
that Saturday evening’s inferno was started by a khebab seller nearby.
He said the actual cause of the explosion was still
under investigation and described the khebab link as ‘unfortunate.’
Already, countless number of witnesses had confirmed
that the scent of gas was all over the area where a tanker was discharging the
highly inflammable product; and that was an indication that the atmosphere was
smoldered moments before the explosion, which was felt as far as Adentan and
its environs.
There are reports that the driver of the gas tanker
realized that the tank containing the gas was leaking and blew an alarm,
forcing everybody at the scene, including workers in the area, to run helter-skelter.
Hundreds of people in and around the Atomic Junction
area fled their homes and workplaces for safety as the two explosions lit the
skies and caused severe heat waves.
Reports were rife on social media that the said khebab
seller, who lit a fire when the gas was being offloaded, might have caused the
explosion and the version espoused by a Joy
FM journalist that the fire was started by a khebab seller went viral.
“It is true that certain activities around the gas
filling station might be responsible for the cause of a gas fire on the gas
facility, but if you are talking about a khebab seller, you need to determine
the distance of the khebab seller to the gas filling point,” Mr. Anaglate told Citi FM in Accra.
Manual
Valves
In the ensuing debate, the Chamber of Petroleum
Consumers claimed that the use of ‘manual valves’ in discharging liquefied
petroleum gas from a tanker into a storage tank might be the possible cause of the
unfortunate disaster.
It said in a statement that its findings into the
possible cause of the explosions pointed to the absence of a proper dislodge
device (suction pumps) at the station.
A gas leak from one of the two gas fuel stations
within the Atomic Junction enclave reportedly sparked fire, which extended to
an adjoining Total filling station, causing two explosions that sent fireballs
into the skies.
UPSA
Protests
Students of the University of Professional Studies,
Accra (UPSA), which is in the same enclave where the gas exploded, have started
agitating for the removal of a petrol station under construction, situated
right behind the campus which they claimed was a threat to their lives.
In a statement signed by UPSA SRC president, Justice
Gadugah, the students said they wanted the regulatory authorities to act without
delay to stop the construction of the fuel station.
“Due to the high number of casualties recorded by
some students of UPSA, the executive council of the Students’ Representative
Council (SRC) would like to by this notice inform the students of the
University of Professional Studies, Accra to declare a demonstration tomorrow,
Monday, 9th October, 2017,” the statement said.
The explosion had forced some students of the
University of Ghana, Legon out of their hostels with over 200 of them wounded
in the confusion.
PRESEC
Boys
Students of Presbyterian Boys Senior High School - which
is situated quite close to the accident scene - had to run for their lives when
the fireballs started flying.
Almost every student took to his heels and some of
them were found as far as Accra Mall area on the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange.
Yesterday, a Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw
Osei Adutwum, visited the campus and interacted with the students and gave the
assurance that the Ghana Education Service (GES) was bringing in counselors to
manage the traumatized students.
Police
Presence
At least 200 police officers, led by COP Akuffo
Dampare, as well as all the security agencies and allied institutions like the
GNFS and NADMO, have been deployed to the scene since Saturday.
Dr. Dampare said yesterday that it was too early for
anybody to disclose the actual cause of the fire, but added that the police
administration would continue to be vigilant.
Emergency
Response
The emergency response appears to be swift as
indicated by a Deputy Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who commended
the GNFS, NADMO, Ghana Ambulance Service and the security agencies for the
manner in which they dealt with the situation.
He described the swift response as unprecedented and
said the government was committed to ensuring that all emergency service
providers were given adequate resources to operate.
The deputy minister later revealed that about 400 gas
stations are currently operating in residential areas across the country.
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