The Clinical Coordinator and Head of the Emergency Team at the Apinto Government Hospital in the Western Region, Dr. Joseph Darko, has reiterated appeals for more donations of blood to help save victims of the Bogoso Appiate explosion.
The facility has been treating five adults and one seven-month-old baby while the Municipal Hospital has been treating 43 injured persons.
“One of the challenges we have in the country has got to do with blood. I don’t think we can ever say, we have enough blood. So obviously, we need blood because apart from the people who came in injured as a result of this explosion, we have patients who are due for surgeries so we need more blood because there are people who were given one pint instead of three pints”, he said.
The town of Appiate has been left deserted after the explosion, which occurred after a truck conveying mining explosives crashed with a motorcycle, according to reports.
It has emerged that the persons who unfortunately lost their lives included a seven-month-old baby.
The baby, believed to be the youngest who perished, died together with 12 other individuals after the blast that left over 50 persons with varying degrees of injuries.
“We haven’t recorded any death yet at our facility [today], and the doctors at the other facilities have also not recorded any death yet. But the figures haven’t changed. It’s still the 13 people who have died. Yesterday, at the health facility, we certified about nine adults and one seven-month-old baby,
Dr. Joseph Darko said most of the injured persons are responding to treatment.
“By and large, the patients are still responding to treatment. Some were sent to the theatre to be worked on. In my facility, we have one adult and a baby. A lot of them are doing well, but we have a few in critical situations, but plans are underway to airlift those whose injuries are quite critical,” the doctor added.
In the aftermath of the deadly explosion, the police put the total casualties at 190.
Out of this number, 96 of them have been discharged from the hospital, while 36 are still receiving treatment.
384 persons have been displaced. The death toll has been put at 13.
Director-General of Police Public Affairs, ACP Kwesi Ofori, gave these details in a media interaction on Friday, January 21, 2022.
