This brings to nine, the number of persons who have died as a result of last Thursday’s incident.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Tony Goodman who confirmed the development to Citi News said the Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia has ordered the health institutions treating injured persons from the incident to submit their bills for payment from government.

“I can confirm to you from our review that there are 9 people who died from the disaster. Because it is a disaster we don’t want people [the injured] to be thinking about how to pay bills and at the end of the day that also brings another hardship to them.”

“The President has assured that the bills will be taken care of so the minister has asked the hospitals to submit the bills as soon as possible so that the bills are paid to them.”

He said the Ministry’s assessment showed the various health facilities had adequate equipment to effectively treat the patients.

“When we went there, in terms of logistics, they are on point; they have adequate logistics to take care of the patients,” Tony Goodman said.

More than 40 victims of the explosion are currently on admission at various hospitals in Accra including the 37 Military hospital, Police hospital, La general hospital and the Korle-Bu teaching hospital.

The explosion occurred at about 4pm on Thursday, December 22, between the Labadi Cemetery and the Trade Fair Centre.

It took fire officers more than four hours to control the inferno which had spread to nearby shops and parts of the Trade Fair Centre.

‘Survivors doing well’ – Mahama

President Mahama on Friday, December 23rd said the survivors of the explosion were “doing well”, when he visited some of them at the 37 Military Hospital.

In a post on Facebook, the President expressed his condolences to the families of those who had lost their lives in the accident while calling on Ghanaians to pray for the quick recovery of those who were currently on admission at the various hospitals receiving medical care.

Time for strict enforcement of safety regulations – Akufo Addo

Meanwhile, President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo has called for better adherence to safety regulations in the country following the incident. In a series of tweets on Twitter, Nana Akufo-Addo said it was about time the country took a second look at the siting of gas stations. “I’ve learnt with sadness of the news of a gas explosion near the Trade Fair Centre, resulting in the loss of 6 lives, and injuries to others. My deepest condolences to the families of the bereaved, and I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he said.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post La gas explosion: 3 more confirmed dead appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, if there was an effective monitoring system, the accident that claimed over nine lives could have been avoided.

Mr Amoah argued that the safety of citizens will be compromised if the state institutions tasked with ensuring routine checks neglect their responsibilities.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr Amoah accused the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) of being negligent.

“It is sad, cruel and avoidable. We saw the June 3 disaster and we all said never again would we allow any such catastrophe to befall Ghanaians. Unfortunately, however we seem not to be doing much in that regard althought the state has entrusted those powers and responsibilities to the NPA to ensure that fuel stations have some safety standards minimum that they operate below which they should be closed down.”

“We think if the NPA continues to shirk its responsibilities then the public safety will continue to compromise. We are demanding from the fire service and police service that whatever report indicating what caused this catastrophe leading to loss of life we will need that report immediately and we will haul before court any person found to be negligent of a statutory or personal duty for not having done so. We are will do have some of these things done so that at least it will serve as deterrent to others.”

More than 40 victims of the explosion are currently on admission at various hospitals in Accra including the 37 Military hospital, Police hospital, La general hospital and the Korle-Bu teaching hospital.ed by the incident.

President Mahama has assured that government will take care of the medical bill of those affect

The explosion occurred at about 4pm on Thursday, December 22, between the Labadi Cemetery and the Trade Fair Centre.

It took fire officers more than four hours to control the inferno which had spread to nearby shops and parts of the Trade Fair Centre.

–
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post La gas explosion: Petroleum consumers threaten legal action appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.