Accra gas station blasts kill six people

ACCRA, Ghana - Six people are known to have died from gas explosions in Accra, Ghana National Fire Service spokesman Billy Anaglatey said on Sunday.

"As we speak, six people are dead due to this fire," he said, adding that 35 were injured by the Saturday night explosions. Four of the 35 are in critical condition, and the death toll was expected to rise.

The cause of the explosions at Atomic Junction, near the Legon suburb in northwestern Accra, is being investigated, said Anaglatey.

The blaze had been completely extinguished by 6 am local time on Sunday, but there is still boiling gas in one of the tankers. "So we continue to cool it down till the temperature goes below burning point, then it can be siphoned," he said.

On Sunday morning, burned steel frames showed where the two gas stations were razed by the explosions.

"Some people said there were flames in the skies, l looked and saw the flames and was convinced something terrible had happened," said James Appiah, a local resident.

The tanker explosion at the gas station was followed by a secondary blast, authorities said.

Legon is a suburb of the capital of Ghana, and it is also home to the main campus of the University of Ghana.

In May, an explosion at a factory in the Western Regional capital of Takoradi occurred as a tanker was discharging liquefied petroleum gas at the Ghana Household Utilities Manufacturing Company factory.

That explosion killed at least six fire service personnel at the scene, and injured at least other 80 people, according to Ghana's state news agency.

Ap - Xinua

(China Daily 10/09/2017 page12)