More Bodies From Gas Explosion

The remains of the fire accident victims Statistics of the dead from last Wednesday's ghastly accident at the Winneba Junction on the Accra-Cape Coast highway has changed, with the discovery of more charred corpses from the scene of the mishap.

Some hours after the recovery of the charred remains of the dead from the scene of accident, three more bodies were sighted and removed.

Yesterday morning, one of the hospitals treating the burnt and injured recorded another death, raising the figure announced earlier.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE a couple of days after the accident, a certain woman who only gave her name as Georgina, said she had still not gotten out of the trauma of witnessing what happened on that day.

“I was returning to Accra from Mankessim when I beheld the fire sweeping over the surrounding area,” she said.

She underscored what was reported earlier about the driver of a commercial vehicle who dared the fire by attempting to drive through it at a high speed but was consumed alongside the passengers in the vehicle by the raging inferno.

Some motorists literally drove into the fire as they cruised from the Cape Coast end of the road towards Accra.

These motorists, according to her, refused to stop but continued to drive on and finally to their deaths.

She recalled the pathetic story of a couple. “A man and his wife run away from the fire which was raging ferociously. The man's shirt was soaked in sweat and it was obvious that his wife could not cope with his speed and so he left her behind. On realizing that she was no where near him, he attempted retracing his steps but was stopped by some sympathizers who found that a dangerous foolhardiness. The wife had no doubt been consumed by the lips of the flame which had no mercy for anybody who stood on its path.”

The screams of victims as they endured the pain of the fire consuming them were unbearable, she said.

“Some of them run into the nearby bushes where they died from the burns, out of the reach of Good Samaritans who were around to offer helping hands.”

It was such remains which are beginning to be spotted, changing the statistics of the dead.

Last Wednesday evening was a black day for the country after a truck laden with LPG burst a tyre, leaving the driver unable to control the vehicle.

The vehicle, whose content exploded after colliding with an oncoming car, became a large ball of raging fire, sweeping the surrounding area with a certain gusto and consuming vehicles which stood on its path.

The nearby Winneba Government Hospital was overwhelmed by the sheer number of the injured and burnt victims.

An SOS was sent out via radio stations for medical support to be rushed to the scene, with some of the victims transferred to the 37 Military and Korle Bu Teaching hospitals.

By A.R. Gomda