A day after most parts of Ghana’s Capital, Accra, were washed away, many others are still struggling to shake off the devastation of a torrential rainfall.
Thursday saw a city broken from news of a GOIL Filling Station completely razed down in an inferno that has killed over 200 people, with more feared dead.
Several others are injured from a wreckage that was fast and furious.
The number could go up, security officials fear.
The filling Station, close to the main Nkrumah Circle branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank was completely razed down by fire in an havoc that lasted several hours Wednesday.
A joint team of security personnel from the Fire Service, NADMO, and military, tried for hours to access the location but to no avail as the road leading to the location was flooded.
The fire, which started some few minutes past 10pm Wednesday evening, spread to nearby structures.
The incident happened after a heavy downpour Wednesday left thousands stranded. The rains, which fell for well over three hours caused heavy vehicular traffic.
Several residential and office buildings have also been left wrecked.
Social media updates and news wire reports some of which came from Kasapa FM‘s reporters on the ground, paint a worrying situation.
Government has called for calm. A statement signed by Minister of Communications, Edward Omane Boamah reads:
“As a result of the rains in and around Accra over the past two days, many suburbs of Accra and surrounding parts have been heavily affected leading to heavy restriction of movement of people.
The traffic situation has worsened on some roads, and fast flowing rainwater is also impeding vehicular movement on some others.
The Achimota sub-station has been affected by the floodwater, leading to an emergency cut in power supply to a number of communities, which were otherwise not programmed to go off tonight.
Residents are informed that personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service and the National Disaster Management Organisation have been deployed to intervene and provide emergency services to affected persons.
The general public is kindly advised to avoid fast moving rainwater, and areas they know have big drains. Stay on higher ground, where necessary, to prevent loss of life.
Should you require the urgent attention of any of the security and emergency services, please call any of these numbers:
0299005011
0299005084
0299005086
0299500099
192Please remain calm, restrict your movement as much as possible as we work assiduously to address this national emergency.”
The day saw some dignitaries visit the Nkrumah Circle inferno scene. President John Mahama and Accra Mayor Oko Vanderpuije led a team of government officials to the place.
Major opposition leader Nana Akuffo Addo, his General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong, and other party officials including former Accra Mayor Adjiri Blankson, were also at the scene.
Speaker of Parliament Doe Adjaho, also toured the scene with some MPs.
Speaking to journalists, President Mahama called the inferno ‘catastrophic’. He asked for measures to be taken to avoid more of such occurrences in future.
“We have to take some measures to avoid this occurrence in future….This loss of lives is catastrophic, almost unprecedented…And we must sit to strategize so that this doesn’t happen again…We must not act like the vulture.”
“…we’ve created human a intervention between the source of the rivers and the sea where they are headed.
“A lot of people have lost their lives. I am at a loss for words to express how I feel, many of them through the floods and then many of them through the fire incident that took place here as the result of the explosion that took place in the filling station located right here.
“We have to take some measures to be able to avoid this in the future, and often when these moves are started, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take those measures but I think that the time has come for us to move out of the waterways and the public should understand that.”
By: Kasapafmonline.com/Ghana
