Paebo residents live in fear after explosion kills one, injures 29
Two hundred houses were destroyed and 1,236 people displaced during an explosion at a defunct quarry at Paebo, near Adoagyiri-Nsawam in the Eastern Region last Wednesday.
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Houses as far as three kilometres away from the quarry site had either the whole or part of the roofings, doors, windows and louvre blades shattered by the explosion of two containers containing ammonia and dynamite chemicals.
Currently, the site has been cordoned off.
The affected buildings sighted by the Daily Graphic team yesterday include those of the St Martin’s Senior High School (SHS) and the St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, both at Adoagyiri, and the Voltic Mineral Water Company at Yawkrom.
One person, whose name was given only as Alhassan, was killed in the accident, while two persons are still on admission at the Nsawam Government Hospital.
Twenty seven others who had sustained minor injuries have undergone medical treatment at various hospitals and clinics.
The first explosion occurred at 4 p.m., while the second occurred some minutes later.
The Daily Graphic team saw some of the metals that flew from the explosion and caused damage to roofing sheets, louvre blades and other valuables.
The quarry, known as the A.K.Y. Mining Services, had, for some time now, stopped operating and the site abandoned without any security.
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During a visit to the site, the cables used in connecting the explosives were not covered.
Although the police are yet to conclude investigations, it is suspected that the explosives, believed to be dynamite and abandoned in a 40-footer container, might have come into contact with fire allegedly started by some hunters.
NADMO support
The Eastern Regional Co-ordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Mr Ransford Owusu-Boakye, who gave out the figures to the Daily Graphic after an assesment of the effect of the explosion, said NADMO would be supplying roofing sheets, wood, nails and cooking utensils to the affected people within the course of this week.
He said the well-to-do in the communities had started repairing the damage done to their buildings and indicated that NADMO would supply the items to the vulnerable.
Meanwhile, he said NADMO had created two safe havens for the victims but the people had refused to relocate.
Living in fear
Some of the people interviewed recounted their harrowing experiences from the two explosions and indicated that they had since been living in a state of fear and anxiety.
The Senior Housemaster of the St Martin’s SHS, Mr Gabriel Kwami Dzededzi, said the explosion happened only 10 minutes after he had got up from bed in his bungalow.
He said following the explosion, his ceiling fan fell onto the bed and particles from shattered louvre blades were scattered on the bed, meaning he could have sustained severe injuries if he had remained on the bed.
A chemistry teacher of the school, Mr Daniel Ofori, told the Daily Graphic that he was asleep when he heard a bang and when he woke up all the louvre blades in his bungalow were shattered.
Rev. Father Augustine Frempong of the St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church said after the first explosion, he went out to buy some wood to repair the damage caused.
He said he was on his way back when the second explosion occurred, which caused more damage than the first.
Ms Rebecca Afumwaa told the Daily Graphic that she was living in a state of fear now, suspecting that the explosion would recur.
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Visits
Last Thursday, the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mr James Agalga, in the company of the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr John Kudalor; the Director General of Police Operations, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, as well as some government officials, including the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Antwi Boasiako Sekyere, visited the scene.