A massive fire at a petrol station in Ghana's capital, Accra, has left 175 people dead and many more injured, officials say.
The fire occurred on Wednesday night following two days of heavy rain that flooded city streets and left many residents without power. The petrol station exploded when floodwaters swept stored oil towards a fire in a nearby house, according to a fire official. Many of the dead had been sheltering from downpours at the petrol station.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
President John Mahama described the fire as "catastrophic" and "almost unprecedented" and declared three days of mourning.
Many buildings in Accra are built on waterways – a factor that is thought to have contributed to the disaster. In the wake of the explosion, Mahama pledged to stop all such construction. "I think that the time has come for us to remove houses out of water and the public should understand that it is necessary to save everybody else," the president said.
Graphic footage was broadcast on Ghanaian television of corpses being loaded onto the back of a pickup truck.
"Many people took shelter under a shed at the station during a severe rain across the country and got trapped when the explosion happened," Michael Plange, who lives near the petrol station, told Associated Press.
As Accra struggles to cope with the flooding, the city's authorities are under pressure to declare a state of emergency, The Guardian reports.
Britain's high commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, took to Twitter to express his sorrow.
"Desperately sad to hear of the large number of deaths in the tragic fire at a filling station in Accra last night. Our deepest condolences", Benjamin wrote.
-
Venezuela’s Trump-shaped power vacuumIN THE SPOTLIGHT The American abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has thrust South America’s biggest oil-producing state into uncharted geopolitical waters
-
Most data centers are being built in the wrong climateThe explainer Data centers require substantial water and energy. But certain locations are more strained than others, mainly due to rising temperatures.
-
‘Maps are the ideal metaphor for our models of what the world might be’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
