At least 17 people have died after a mining truck exploded in Ghana

At least 17 people were killed and 59 injured on Thursday in a devastating explosion in western Ghanaatown after a truck carrying explosives collided with a motorcycle, the government said.

The blast left a huge crater and reduced dozens of buildings to dusty piles of wood and metal in Apiate, near the city of Bogoso, about 300 kilometers west of the capital of the mineral-rich West African country Accra.

Films showed locals rushing to a raging fire and rising plumes of black smoke to inspect the damage, while rescue workers waded through the rubble of survivors trapped in the devastation.

“Unfortunately, a total of 17 people have been confirmed dead and 59 injured people have been rescued,” Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said in a statement released overnight.

The minister said the first signs point to “an accident involving a truck transporting explosives for a mining company, a motorcycle and a third vehicle” which took place near an electric transformer.

Of the 59 injured people, 42 receive treatment in hospitals or health centers and “some are in critical condition”, Nkrumah added.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo called it a “truly sad, unfortunate and tragic event”.

The government said they would be moved to Accra Hospital in critical condition and police asked surrounding villages to open their schools and churches to receive additional victims.

A team of explosion experts from the police and army was deployed to “avoid a second explosion” and introduced security measures after the explosion, the government said in a press release.

(AFP)