Shama quarry explosion: Over GH¢55k found at mining site - Report

Over GH¢55,000 has been reportedly found at the quarry site where an explosion occurred at Shama in the Western Region on Sunday, September 10, 2023.

Assembly member for the Anto Aboso Electoral area in the Shama District, Emmanuel Owua-Awie, who made the disclosure, said that the money was found during a search at the quarry site and it probably belongs to the miners, 3news.com reports.

“During the search, some guys started picking money from the site. One of the guys saw huge sums of money. He initially took part of the money to a safe place and decided to come back for more.

“Whilst he was in the process of taking more, the police officers on site spotted him and retrieved all the money. It was counted and over GH¢55,000 was realized,” he is quoted to have said.

The assemblyman indicated that some of the money found was used to pay the medical bills of the victims of the explosion.

“It was even good we found that money because it’s the same thing we have been using to pay all the hospital bills of those injured,” he said.

About the explosion:

The explosion happened at a quarry believed to be owned by a Chinese company, known as Omni Quarries, located at Shama, in the Western Region.

The explosion is said to have happened at a community called Anto-Aboso, in the Shama District.

Accounts say that the explosion happened between the night of Saturday, September 9, and Sunday, night.

The disaster came about as a result of an ammonia nitrate explosion. At least five people are reported to have been killed.

Reports say some Ghanaian and Chinese nationals working on a night shift were part of those involved in the explosion.

The explosives were reportedly being kept in an unstructured storage without a permit.

At the scene of the explosion, blood stains could be seen, reports said. Buildings around the explosion were also destroyed.

As of the time of reporting the explosion, GhanaWeb learnt that personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service had arrived at the site, working to control the situation.

Some victims of the explosion were said to have been missing.

BAI/AW

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