Residents of Iron City at Kasoa in the Central Region are appealing to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to close down a gas station cited near a residential enclave.
The residents say they fear an explosion from the gas station could lead to the loss of dozens of lives.
Assemblyman for the area, Alhaji Daanaa, told Joy News’ they are scared after a leakage of gas in the area last year. He said they were fortunate it did not lead to a fire outbreak.
At least over 100 people died in Ghana last year following separate explosions across the country.
A gas explosion behind the International Trade Fair Centre in Accra in December 2016 led to the death of 11 people who were burnt beyond recognition with 42 others sustaining varying degrees of injuries.
Photo: Image from La gas explosion
The explosion with its attendant fire outbreak was said to have started at 6 p.m at a gas station near Zenith University College. Properties worth thousands of cedis were destroyed.
Officers of the Ghana National Fire Service after preliminary investigations said the fire occurred when the machine emptying the gas into the containers on site caught fire and lighted the electric cables close to the gas station.
It pointed to missing bolts and nuts on a tanker emptying gas at the station as the possible cause of the fire.
The incidents of gas station explosions in the country have heightened the fear of residents at Iron City leading to their call to EPA to take preemptive measures to save lives.
Photo: Image from La gas explosion
Mr Daana disclosed that although the leakage has happened more than once, they are now riding on luck as anything could happen.
“We told him [owner of the gas station] that for the sake of human life, she should stop operating the gas station, but he refused. So we went to EPA to complain that the operator of the station is endangering our lives,” he said.
But some police personnel in collaboration with the owner of the gas station came to threaten complaints.
“We won’t allow one person for the love of money take away thousands of lives while we sit down aloof and watch him,” an aggrieved Mr Daanaa said, appealing to EPA officials to come to their aid.
