A victim of the latest explosion, 34-year-old Martin Gyekye of the Furnace Department of the said company, sustained what could be described as a life-threatening injury on his face.
He is currently on admission at the Narh-Bita Hospital in Tema under the strict watch of some persons believed to be members of management of the company who were preventing media men from visiting the medical facility to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the presence of victims of the latest gas explosion.
According to some of the workers of the company, the accident could have been avoided had the company adopted simple safety measures expected of most companies in the country, raising questions about the seriousness attached to safety of workers, especially when the same company had witnessed two separate explosions recently.
When Daily Guide visited the medical facility, certain persons prevented it from entering a ward where Martin Gyekye was reported to be receiving treatment.
It took the team quite an effort before it finally gained access to the victim. Relations of the victim and other victims of the earlier explosions were however allowed into the ward, perhaps to give food to them.
Mr. Gyekye, according to Daily Guide’s source, was rushed to the medical facility shortly after the explosion and is reported to be receiving treatment in the same ward which had a victim from the previous explosion.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, Martin narrated that while working at the furnace at about 8pm on that fateful day, a crane loaded with scrap metals came and emptied its contents into the melting canister.
While he used an iron bar to hit and push the scraps into a chamber where the scraps were supposed to be melted, there was sudden a explosion only to realize that he was hit in the face by fire which he strongly believed was as a result of the explosion. He said he was unconscious until the following day when he found himself at the hospital.
Gyekye said that the latest accident is his second at the factory this year, adding that he sustained injuries in both accidents. He pointed out that the latest accident could have been started by a spraying can or a gas cylinder which was supposed to be empty before being inserted into the melting pot.
He said the explosion sparked fire which subsequently burnt his face completely. He expressed surprise at the turn of events and appealed to owners of the factory to intensify their safety measures so as to avoid such accidents in future.
In a telephone interview with Abraham Koomson, General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Labour, he noted that the accident confirmed their several calls to the government to shut the company and to conduct investigations into the explosions. According to him, a formal petition which was sent to the Minister of Employment and Social Welfare was yet to be replied.
He regretted the latest accident and pointed out that his outfit had earlier visited the company and the victims at the hospital. He reiterated their call for the closure of the factory to avoid further explosions which might injure other workers currently at the factory.
Information gathered by Daily Guide indicated that the government had sent a team of labour union to the company to ascertain the working conditions of the company, while the minister himself is expected at the company tomorrow to have first-hand information about the explosions which so far have seen about 14 persons injured, with one of them reported dead.
All efforts to contact management about the latest explosion proved futile as Nana Tamakloe, the Public Relations Officer of the company, had her phone switched off.
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