On Thursday night, there was an explosion occurred after a truck carrying explosives to the mines in Chirano collided with a motorcycle in Apeatse in the Western Region of Ghana. “The reports that I’m getting from the various hospitals, roughly about 17 people that has passed away,” Prestea- Huni Valley District Mayor Isaac Dsamani said in his statement. Local authorities told, 59 people were injured in the explosion. Injured people were taken to hospital, according to police. “A total of 17 people have unfortunately been confirmed dead, and 59 injured people have been rescued”, Ghanaian Information Minister Kojo Vincent Oppong Nkrumah said.

Meanwhile, Ghanian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that the military and the the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) have been deployed in emergency efforts to help contain the situation. “It is a truly sad, unfortunate and tragic incident,” Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said in a statement on his social media.

Police stated that the rescue efforts are underway, and informed residents must move away from the area. Police also urged towns near the explosion area to open schools and churches for those whose homes were destroyed in the blast.