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Accra: At least 17 people were killed and 59 injured Thursday by an explosion that devastated part of a town in western Ghana after a truck carrying explosives collided with a motorcycle, the government said. “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 released overnight.
The accident happened around noon in Apiate, near the city of Bogoso some 300 kilometres (180 miles) west of the mineral-rich West African country’s capital Accra.
Local police released a statement saying that a “preliminary investigation has established that a mining vehicle carrying explosives… collided with a motorcycle resulting in the explosion”.
“Most of the victims have been rescued” and taken to various area hospitals, the statement said.
Ghana has suffered a series of gas explosions in recent years caused by leaking fuel.
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.
(With inputs from agencies)
