By Canadian Press

Death toll rises to 7 in gas station explosions in Ghana

Oct 7, 2017 | 4:45 PM

ACCRA, Ghana — A pair of explosions at a gas station in Ghana that sent a fiery mushroom cloud into the night sky has killed at least seven people and left 68 others hospitalized, authorities said Sunday.

Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia visited the site of the accident early Sunday where he pledged that the government would work to curb such tragedies.

“Eight of these explosions in three years is too much,” he said while at the LNG filling station near Legon, a suburb of Accra.

Ghana’s Information Ministry confirmed the death toll from late Saturday, and said that dozens of others also had been treated and released for injuries.

The tanker explosion at a gas station late Saturday was followed by a secondary blast. The exact cause of the accident is under investigation, Ghana National Fire Service spokesman Billy Anaglatey said.

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In May, an explosion at a factory in the Western Regional capital of Takoradi occurred as a tanker was discharging liquefied petroleum gas at the Ghana Household Utilities Manufacturing Company factory. That explosion killed at least six fire service personnel at the scene, and injured at least other 80 people, according to Ghana’s state news agency.

A June 2015 explosion killed more than 150 people as many were seeking shelter from a storm at the gas station when that tragedy occurred.

Francis Kokutse, The Associated Press