{"id":360650,"date":"2017-10-10T09:58:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T09:58:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=360650"},"modified":"2017-10-10T09:58:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T09:58:58","slug":"deaths-from-fuel-explosions-grossly-under-reported-surgeon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/10\/deaths-from-fuel-explosions-grossly-under-reported-surgeon\/","title":{"rendered":"Deaths from fuel explosions grossly under-reported – Surgeon"},"content":{"rendered":"
Fatalities from gas explosions, fire-related disasters, and possibly other accidents, are grossly under-reported, per the experience of a specialist surgeon and physician at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Hadi Abdallah.<\/p>\n
He noted on the\u00a0Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong>\u00a0that the media tends to focus on the fatalities in the immediate aftermath of an accident.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”rcB58xUhTgS0vk8UV6NGCbPznGbq80HL”]Citi News<\/strong>\u00a0estimates pegged the number of deaths from the major gas explosions from 2014, minus the June 3 fire and flood disaster, at a little over 30.<\/p>\n But the delicate nature of burn injuries, both physically and psychologically, leaves victims at the risk of death even a year after the incidents.<\/p>\n To enforce this concern, Dr. Abdalla, who was a medical officer at the Winneba Government Hospital, recalled the coverage of fatalities from a massive gas explosion at Winneba following a road crash involving a gas tanker in March 2009.<\/p>\n An assessment of media reports at the time indicates that between 12 and 21 deaths were noted.<\/p>\n The reports noted that, about 35 people who received severe burns and were rushed to the Winneba Government Hospital, were later referred to Korle-Bu and 37 Military hospitals in Accra.<\/p>\n But even the report of 21 fatalities from the explosion fell way short of the eventual number of deaths, which increased by 100 percent, unbeknownst to the media.<\/p>\n Dr. Abdallah said “we all know from the Winneba incident that 42 eventually died; 42 Ghanaians including women and children. Some were pregnant women and I was able to get these facts because I was able to follow the patients that had been referred to Korle-Bu.”<\/p>\n The more recent explosion at Nungua Zongo in 2014 was reported to have just one fatality, with five others injured.<\/p>\n But the fatalities, in this case, were also not followed up on as the explosion eventually\u00a0recorded maximum fatalities.<\/p>\n “…that same night, a young girl of nine years died in Korle Bu. Later on, the mother of the child and the other three siblings and the young man who had come to fix the gas cylinder for them when the incident occurred also died in Korle Bu within a period of about three weeks. But nobody captured it and that family has actually been wiped out from that gas explosion,\u201d\u00a0Dr. Abdallah disclosed.<\/p>\n