The Aftermath Of The Accra Floods

Ghanaians are still counting the cost of Wednesday's devastating floods that swept through almost every part of Accra.

The rains, which started in the afternoon, poured till late in the night, trapping people in their offices, cars and bus stops.

The worst incident of the day was the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Goil filling station explosion that claimed over 150 lives together with the lives lost as a result of the heavy downpour.

A building affected by the explosion
The victims were people who had sought shelter from the deluge that caused widespread flooding.

They were burnt beyond recognition as they sought cover under the station's sun shelter, or trapped and incinerated in the wreckage of cars and buses on the station's forecourt.

President John Dramani Mahama described the loss of lives as 'catastrophic and almost unprecedented' when he visited the accident scene a day after the sad incident.

A survival of the explosion at the hospital
The Kwame Nkrumah Circle has virtually been inaccessible to motorists and pedestrians who use that route to and from their homes and offices.

Traffic from Kaneshie, Odorkor and its environs has been redirected through the Graphic road and public buses that ply the Circle station routes to other parts of the city are compelled to stop at the New Times Corporation area while those from Achimota have to use the Joy Fm road or stop at the Vodafone offices.

The use of motorbikes had become the alternative means of transport through the Circle area as of Friday.

The police were also still at the Goil filling station busily directing traffic after blocking the Commercial Bank area as investigations into the explosion continued.

A truck load of dead bodies
Yesterday the President visited the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital as well as the Police and 37 Military hospitals, where victims were being treated, in the company of Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe and Ivorian Foreign Minister Charles Koffi Diby, who were in the country to sympathise with him.

President Mahama had earlier pledged an amount of GH¢50 million for the victims of the disaster while Goil set up a GH¢60 million fund to support victims and their dependants.

President Mahama has also announced a three-day period of national mourning to be held next week for the dead.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri