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Two confirmed dead at gas station explosion in Ghana's capital

| Updated: October 25, 2017 05:30:14


Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an explosion at a natural gas station in Ghana’s capital Accra on October 7, 2017. (Reuters photo) Fire and smoke rise into the sky after an explosion at a natural gas station in Ghana’s capital Accra on October 7, 2017. (Reuters photo)

Two people were confirmed dead after an explosion at a gas station Saturday evening in the north of Ghana's capital city, a local official told Xinhua.

The explosion, which occurred around 7:30 p.m. local time (19:30 GMT), was due to a leak when a truck was discharging liquefied gas at a filling station, according to eyewitnesses.

When the truck driver realized there was a leak, he immediately alerted people around, who had started running before the resounding double explosions sent fire balls into the sky, they added.

"A significant number of people got injured and are receiving treatment in various health facilities, but unfortunately some have also passed away," Deputy Minister for Information Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah told Xinhua.

All adjoining communities in the area of the incident have been working with rescue officials to bring the fire under control.

"I can confirm that two people were dead. One of them directly by the explosion, while the other was an eyewitness using his phone to take shots at the incident, but was rather caught by the fire," said Abu Ramadan, deputy coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organization.

On the scene were about six fire fighters, police trucks and ambulances from the National Ambulance Service on call to carry the injured or deceased to the hospitals or morgues.

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