MASSIVE Gas Explosion Damn near Destroys Half of Ghana's Capital

A natural gas station in Ghana’s capital, Accra, has exploded, killing an unknown number of people, a government official said.



“Unfortunately there are some fatalities and we are working to have the numbers,” the deputy information minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, told a local radio station. “There are quite a number also injured.” He said the initial blaze was largely under control and that about 200 police officers had been sent to the scene.



The explosion at about 7.30pm local time (1930 GMT) began at a state-owned GOIL liquefied natural gas station and spread to a Total petrol station across the street at the Atomic Junction, a Reuters witness said.



Frightened residents ran from the explosion, which sent a giant fireball high into the sky above the city, and at least six fire engines and several ambulances responded to the blast. A police spokeswoman, Efia Tenge, told AFP it was a gas explosion, and added: “I am in Legon [in north-easy Accra] and I heard two explosions. My whole building was shaking.”



The Accra city authorities warned people to avoid the area, which is also home to the University of Ghana campus.