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| Africa Subsaharan |
| More than 70 dead in Ghana petrol station fire |
| 2015-06-05 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] More than 70 people were killed in a fire at a petrol station in Ghana's capital, Accra, as they sought shelter from heavy rains that caused widespread flooding, the police and Red Thingy said Thursday. "This loss of life is catastrophic and almost unprecedented," a visibly shaken President John Dramani Mahama said as he toured the scene. "A lot of people have bit the dust and I am lost for words." Communications minister Edward Omane Boamah described the situation as a "national emergency". A senior police officer said that "the fire service alone has retrieved about 73 bodies," while Red Thingy disaster management coordinator Francis Obeng put the corpse count at "more than 70". Local hospitals said morgues were full, with the corpse count likely to rise, according to security officials. The fire broke out late on Wednesday night in the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area of central Accra and is thought to have spread from a nearby residence. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 More than 150 now. Sounds like flood waters forced gasoline from the tank, and it spread out on the water until it found a flame. |
| Posted by: James 2015-06-05 10:14 |
| #1 Running into a fire to get out of the rain? Somethings amiss. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2015-06-05 10:05 |