The motor tricycle rider who has been widely regarded as having caused the massive explosion at Apiate near Bogoso in the Prestea Huni Valley in the Western Region, has denied ever crossing the vehicle that was carrying the explosives to a mine site.
According to the rider identified as Philip Mensah, he was nowhere near the scene during the accident on Thursday which has since triggered regulatory concerns about how such incendiaries are transported.
Initial Reports
A truck carrying explosives to a gold mine, reportedly driven by one Alfred Pappoe, was said to have collided with a motorcycle at Apiate, sparking a huge blast which flattened almost all buildings in the small town Thursday afternoon.
The heavy duty vehicle carrying the explosives reportedly belonged to a mining services provider called Maxam, which was moving from Tarkwa to Chirano Mines in the Western North Region.
In the end, 13 residents were reported to have died in the massive explosion and apart from the unfortunate deaths, there widespread destruction of property and close to 100 residents suffered injuries.
Official Action
The services company, Maxam Limited, has been suspended on the instructions of the government through the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor.
Pursuant to regulation 2 of the Minerals and Mining (Explosives) Regulation, 2012 (L.I. 2177), the Lands and Natural Resources Minister also directed the Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission to interdict the Chief Inspector of Mines who is responsible for the supervision of the manufacture, storage, transportation and use of explosives for mining and mine support services, over the deadly incident.
Rider Speaks
According to the rider, he was admitted at Aseda Hospital in Bogoso and information available indicates that he has been discharged.
The driver of the van carrying the explosives, Alfred Pappoe, has also been discharged from the hospital.
The motor rider claimed that his bike was rather hit by another vehicle from behind and was rushed to a nearby health facility, before the explosion occurred.
“I didn’t collide with the said truck, neither was I at the scene during the explosion,” he reportedly said as captured by the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
“I don’t know where that story is coming from because I was not at the scene. I did not see any truck around me when the accident occurred. I was in the tricycle with one woman and the two of us were carried to the health facility.”
“The people that conveyed us to the hospital later informed me that it was a sprinter bus that hit my tricycle and that the driver ran away after the accident,” he insisted.
Police Checks
A team of investigators from the Criminal Investigative Department of the Ghana Police Service on Sunday, January 23, 2022, interrogated the truck driver and the rider of the motorcycle.
The driver of the truck was said to look distraught with a part of his face bandaged.
The motor rider had his elbow and knee bandaged with bruises on his hand and chin.
The truck driver declined to engage the media after the interrogation, saying: “I have been instructed not to speak.”
Road Construction Starts
Already, the Ministry of Roads and Highways has begun works on the hole created on the road at Apiate as a result of the massive blast.
They authorities had to construct a temporary bypass to keep traffic moving on that highway linking Bogoso to Tarkwa.
When DAILY GUIDE visited the accident scene on Sunday, the contractor M/S Gabriel Couto, had mobilized to site and had started working.
Nicholas Acheampong, Foreman of Gabriel Couto Construction said “we are taking off all the lose materials and replace them and put compression on them and start doing the filling before putting bitumen and then asphalt to get the road back.”
He said the company is expected to take about a week to do all the filling before applying the asphalt.
More Victims
A number of the affected persons are also recounting their harrowing experience during the massive explosion to DAILY GUIDE.
Some visited the destroyed community to try to salvage some of their belongings that were not totally destroyed, after they heard that the government was making plans to clear the area to make way for the rebuilding of the entire community.
A 24- year old woman, Akosua Mary, a galamseyer, was seen drinking a bottle of beer whiles using a shovel to dig a portion of the area, ostensibly to look for her belongings.
She said she was staying with her brother at Apiate and had come back to the place to look for some of her belongings, particularly clothes and a pound of gold she claimed had in her room.
As she was scavenging the rabbles, she came across a bottle of beer at where her brother’s drinking spot was located and said she was drinking to “drown her sorrows.”
She said two children of her landlord died in the accident and some of her friends got seriously injured and are receiving treatment at the Tarkwa Government Hospital.
“I am sad for what has happened that is why immediately I saw the beer I took it, opened it and decided to drink,” she said.
Akosua Mary said she was asleep when the blast happened and immediately got up but there was thick smoke all over.
Another victim, Cecilia Lariba, said was one of those who heeded to the warning by the driver of the van carrying the explosives, to run to safety.
She claimed most the deceased persons were those who decided to capture the incident with their mobile phones when the vehicle started burning.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Bogoso