Gas plant explodes at Darkuman

A gas plant located at Darkuman near the Cable and Wireless area which has been operating, in spite of a "stop work" notice by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), exploded at the weekend, causing harm to life and property.

The incident comes two months after the gas explosion in Kumasi.
Three persons, including the owner of the plant, were said to have been burnt by the leakage from the gas.

According to an eyewitness, Mr Edmund Nikoi, some workers were in the process of replacing the old gas plant with a new one when the leakage started, emitting smoke from the plant.

He said the smoke was accompanied by heat which burnt window nets and other parts of some buildings in the area, causing black spots on them.

The Mirror observed that there were many houses very close to where the gas plant was sited.

Residents of the area appealed to the authorities to stop the operation of the gas plant since it posed a threat to their lives.

When The Mirror contacted the owner of the gas plant to ascertain what happened, he promised to talk to this reporter later but did not answer his phone when he was called.

A few weeks ago, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) closed down a gas plant at Dansoman on the grounds that it was sited in a residential area and posed danger to the residents.

The closure of the plant followed persistent complaints made by the residents against its siting in the area.