Scores killed in Ghana blast while sheltering from torrential rains

A gas station in Ghana's capital, Accra, blew up while many people were sheltering there from a torrential rainfall and flooding, killing scores of  people and leaving a gruesome scene with charred bodies and neighboring buildings set alight, authorities said Thursday.

Ghanian authorities said late Thursday that at least 150 people died in the accident.

The blast was caused by a fire that erupted at a nearby truck terminal, then spread to the gas station and other buildings, fire brigade spokesman Prince Billy Anaglate told Reuters.

Graphic footage aired on national television early Thursday showed corpses being piled into the back of a pickup truck and other charred bodies trapped amid the debris. Neighboring buildings that had caught fire burned into the night as floodwaters around the site hampered recovery efforts.

“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 a few blocks away, told The Associated Press.

The explosion occurred near the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, in the center of Accra.

Police public affairs officer Cephas Arthur told the public to stay away from the scene.

“We must allow the Fire Service and National Disaster Management Organization to work to find trapped bodies at the scene of explosion,” he said.

State radio reported that Accra and other cities across the country have been flooded.

Wire services