A three-month pregnant woman who survived the Appiatse explosion that killed over 13 people has revealed chilling details of her survival.
Grace Morgan, 32, said the explosion happened “very close to my shop along the main road.” “I’m surprised I survived…”
On Thursday morning, the victim, a mother of three, returned from Kumasi and was near her shop when the truck collided with a tricycle and caught fire.
She said some men tried to “douse the fire with water” but failed.
A detergent to make the water soapy was suggested by Madam Morgan after “30 minutes” of unsuccessful attempts to extinguish the fire.
The trader said the truck exploded minutes after she left the scene.
“I only heard boom! I suddenly lost my vision. There was a lot of dust. I saw someone run across me and I followed them, not knowing what was going on.
“I was lost in my thoughts when I saw people dead and injured.” “I ran home to check on my kids, not realizing I’d been shot,” she said.
“I was surprised I didn’t die because I was so close,” Madam Morgan said.
“My only joy now is that my children are not hurt,” she said, referring to the destruction of her shop and the theft of GH3,000 from her suppliers.
The pregnant woman is currently being treated in Tarkwa’s Apinto Government Hospital.
She had metal in her left thigh and had surgery on Friday, January 21, nurses told the GNA on Saturday.
The nurses said she was “stable” and on “pain medication.”
Five more victims, including a four-year-old child, are in Apinto Government Hospital.
The boy had “minor cuts” on his face and body, according to hospital officials.
They said all victims were improving.
According to preliminary police investigations, the explosion occurred at Appiatse, a farming community between Bogoso and Bawdie in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality of the Western Region.
The disaster claimed 13 lives and injured 179. The Minerals Commission shut down Maxam Ghana Limited, the owners of the explosive truck, on Saturday.
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said the government would work with the State Housing Corporation and mining companies to build temporary housing for those displaced by the explosion.
The Vice President said the government would pay for the injured’s medical care.
On behalf of the government, he presented mattresses, rice, cooking oil, and toiletries to 300 displaced persons housed at the Bogoso Catholic Relief Center.
[ads2]
