Bogoso explosion: Government to build houses for displaced persons, says Bawumia
The police say along with the 13 dead, the explosion injured 179 people, with at least 45 in critical condition at various hospitals
The government has initiated process to build some facilities for persons who have been displaced in Thursday’s explosion at Bogoso-Appiatse in the Western Region.
The police say along with the 13 dead, the explosion injured 179 people, with at least 45 in critical condition at various hospitals
Speaking after touring the community, the Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia described the incident as a sad day for the country, adding that the government is working tirelessly to ensure the victims receive the best medical care.
He expressed gratitude to all the agencies who are helping with the rescue effort.
“I want to assure Nananom that His Excellency the president has given us directives, and I have already spoken to the state housing company and in consultation with the mining companies around here, we will quickly try to put in facilities that will help those who have been displaced.
“So that is going to be one of the priorities for all of us, so just to assure you that government is fully engaged in all of these processes and we are going to see to it that the people here are taken care of, we will learn lessons and those are going to be much later on,” Dr Bawumia said.
“But for now , we are very much concerned about how to complete this rescue effort, how to take care of the injured, families and people who have survived. So we are going to work collaboratively to ensure all of these happen.”
Background
The police said preliminary investigation has established that a mining explosive vehicle moving from Tarkwa to Chirano mines collided with a motorcycle resulting in the explosion.
Relief centres
Speaking to the media, the Municipal Chief Executive for Prestea Huni-Valley Dr Isaac Asamani said they have set up relief centres to accommodate most of the displaced people as the search and rescue operation continues.
“We’ve set up relief centres. The whole community is gone. All the roofs have been ripped off and some of the buildings have collapsed. Some were trapped in their rooms but we’ve been able to rescue them. It’s a very sad day for me. We are appealing to churches and schools in nearby villages to make their buildings available for the displaced persons to get a place to sleep for the meantime,” he added.
Houses destroyed
On his part, Sedzi Sadzi Amedonu, deputy coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) confirmed that over 500 houses have been affected.
”We’ve a case on our hands now. It’s a black Thursday. So far 500 houses have been affected. Some have been razed down completely by the explosion while others have developed cracks. It’s almost like a ghost town now. Some of the houses were burnt while others have been covered by the debris so we’re still carrying out the search and rescue operation. Most of the cars that were around during the explosion also have their windscreens damaged.
Fred Dzakpata
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