By Nathaniel Nartey
Government says it will spare no effort to ensure the rapid return to normalcy for residents of Appiatse, a Community near Bogoso in the Western Region affected by yesterday’s fatal explosion. It has declared its intention to foot the hospital bill for all victims of the disaster. Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on January 21, 2022 led a high-powered Government delegation to “Ground Zero” to commiserate with families of victims of the explosion, and to assess the extent of damage caused. Dr. Bawumia commended the Security and Rescue Agencies for their intervention and gave assurance of government’s support to the victims.
“We are already thinking about how to rehabilitate and rebuild for the Community here so I want to assure Nananom that President Akufo Addo has given us directives…..we will quickly try to put in place facilities that will help those who have been displaced. We want to assure all the patients that the government will be fully responsible for all their medical bills”.
13 persons confirmed dead-Operations briefing
The Service Commanders for the rescue operation briefed the delegation. The Police Commander for the Catchment Area made some clarifications on the number of people who died from the explosion.
”We have, in total, 13 deaths and 45 referrals. They were sent to 3 hospitals in Bogoso”, he clarified.
The Western Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service, ACFO Ohene, briefed the delegation on the explosives that were being transported and challenges encountered in the rescue efforts.
”This vehicle was moving from Tarkwa, it was carrying Ammonium Nitrite fuel oil (10 tonnes) so we aided in rescuing 57 people. The nature of the road from Prestia to Bogoso was bad and it was a challenge for us that delayed our response time”, he noted.
A Representative of NADMO outlined the relief items distributed to victims so far.
“NADMO were present when it happend. We received some items through the directive of the President, items like Mosquito nets, soaps, cooking oil, blanket clothes and bags of rice”.
Meanwhile, the Chief of Appiatse has appealed for more support for the victims and expressed gratitude to the government for the timely intervention.
