Thirty-four people who sustained injuries due to the blasting of rock at a road construction site at Gomoa Buduburam in the Central Region last Monday, have been treated and discharged from the hospital.
They were part of 47 people who were injured in the incident, with four of them being referred to the 37 Military Hospital Trauma Unit in Accra.
The Medical Superintendent of the St Gregory Catholic Hospital at Gomoa Buduburam, Mathias Ayegre Anaba, who made this known to journalists in Accra on Wednesday said so far, three persons had lost their lives.
The remaining 13, including a seven-month-old baby girl still on admission are said to be responding to treatment.
At about 3p.m. last Monday, the Big Apple enclave at Gomoa Buduburam in the Gomoa East District in the Central Region was thrown into a state of confusion and mourning, following the death of three, and injuries when some rocks were blasted to pave way for the dualisation of the Kasoa-Winneba road in the region.
The blasting was intended to clear some underground rocks to level the place for the expansion works.
Residents claimed that the blasting was done by the construction firm in charge of the project.
Because of how busy the place was, coupled with the large number of residents living around the scene of the accident, the victims sustained multiple injuries, leading to the death of the three persons.
Support
The Ministry of Roads and Highways said it was working with other stakeholders to reach out to the families of the deceased to support them in their moment of bereavement.
The Head of Public Relations of the ministry, Ahmed Nasir Yartey, said the hospital bills of the surviving victims would also be taken care of, adding that the contractor had also agreed to assist them.
He said that the ministry was also working with relevant authorities to take stock of property damaged in the incident.
Meanwhile, there is an ongoing community engagement with the chiefs and residents of the area to commiserate with them and also quell any possible disagreements in the handling of the matter.
The Chief of Gomoa Buduburam, Nana Kojo Essel, called for calm as investigation was underway to unravel the cause of the blast.
He extended his condolences to the bereaved families and cautioned people against politicisation of the matter.
“If we say we will follow our hearts, we will destroy a lot of things, and so let us remain calm while authorities look into the incident,” Nana Essel said.
For his part, the District Chief Executive of Gomoa East, Solomon Darko Quarm, described the tragedy as unfortunate, and appealed to the affected families to exercise restraint since the incident was purely an accident.
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