The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has not yet received the official report on the gas explosion that occurred at Atomic Junction some eight months ago.
According to the authority, although it has formally requested for the report from the Ghana National Fire Service, it is yet to get hold of it.
There was a massive gas explosion at Atomic Junction on October 7, 2017.
Seven people lost their lives in that accident, and over 130 others got injured and were rushed to the hospital.
The area accident site used to be a hotbed of activity with a commercial bus [trotro] station, taxi rank, other fuel stations and traders located in the immediate vicinity.
Leaders of various sector agencies, stakeholders and government officials all visited the site at the time.
But, eight months down the line, the NPA does not still have the official report.
“…As we speak, we haven’t received that official accident report that was prepared by the Fire Service,” the Director of Inspections and Monitoring Division at NPA, Esther Anku said.
“We have made a formal request for it, so I’m unable to indicate the exact cause of the accident. That is a fact; we haven’t received that official report. We have made a formal request for it,” she added.
Esther Anku made the remark week during the Ghana International Petroleum Conference in Accra as part of activities marking the Citi Business Festival.
She further noted that their preliminary investigation “suggested that the coupling might not have been properly done.”
“Don’t also forget that by our regulations discharge of petroleum products at stations should not take place between 6:00 pm to 6:00 am. In this particular instance, it was taking place after 7:00 pm and it was really dark. So we suspect there was some kind of escape of gas because the coupling was not properly done.”
“So under such circumstances, it was definitely going to be difficult for whoever was operating the facility to be able to identify where the valves were to close them to stop the leakage. So that is what we suspect caused the accident. It was clear however that the safety protocols were not followed during discharge,” she added.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin