Tuesday’s explosion at a utensils-producing company in Sekondi/Takoradi in the Western Region has left over 150 persons hospitalized, 3news.com has learnt. The hospitalized are workers and residents who suffered various degrees of injury as a result of the explosion.

The explosion, which resulted in fire, was near an oil depot, Olam Distributors. The fire has since been brought under control. Reporting on 3FM’s Midday News on Tuesday, May 9, Connect FM’s Henry Yankey said about 70 of the injured were admitted at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital.

The rest were also admitted at the Takoradi Government Hospital as well as other health centers. Most of the injured had major and minor burns with two said to have fractured their limbs. Some of the injured suffered second-degree burns Some, Connect FM’s reporter said, had to be referred to the Cape Coast Hospital for further medical care.

He disclosed how residents had complained Tuesday morning about leakage of gas at the factory but all the complaints were played down by the owners. Speaking on Midday News, the Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in the Western Region, Eric Bonney, said they have established that the fire was caused by the explosion. They are, however, on a hunt for the persons who were discharging the gas.

Fire Officer Bonney says further interrogations would be conducted to get to the bottom of the cause of the fire. Some residents told Henry Yankey that the casualties would have been lessened if the GNFS had acted swiftly.

They complained that after the first explosion, a report was lodged with the Service but personnel delayed in sending tenders to the disaster scene. A taxi had to be chartered by some workers, a resident said, to go to the office to get the fire officers to come to the scene.