PARTS of Ashaiman and Tema were at the weekend plunged into total darkness when a faulty cable being worked on by two employees of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) exploded.
The explosion resulted in the destruction of the company’s entire panel, ripping off of the 33-kilowatt (kv) Circuit breaker through the roof of the building and destruction of a quantity of louvre blades.
The two employees, James Narh and Antony Adofo, sustained severe burns on their faces and parts of their bodies, and were taken to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where they have been admitted. They are said to be in stable condition.
Two other persons, not named who sustained minor injuries were treated and discharged at the Narh Bita Hospital in Tema.
About 500 metres away from the substation, was found the body of a man, said to be in his early forties, and believed to have been electrocuted during an illegal excavation in which he succeeded in cutting three of the cables with a hacksaw.
But it is suspected that while he was cutting the fourth cable, power was restored and that resulted in his electrocution.
He was said to be wearing a pair of Wellington boots and the hacksaw he allegedly used in cutting the cable lying by him.
The police have since conveyed the body to the Tema General Hospital morgue.
Mr John Etroo, ECG maintenance engineer for Tema Region, blamed the explosion on obsolete machines and said the company was replacing all its old equipment.
Dr. Nicholas K. Smart-Yeboah, Tema Regional Director of ECG, said this was the second time such an incident had been recorded in the country, the first one being in Kumasi.
He regretted that at this time of power crisis’ that efforts are being made to find a solution to it, some miscreants should resort to acts to aggravate the situation.
Dr Smart-Yeboah, called on the public to be vigilant and to report anyone indulged in negative acts meant to sabotage the ECG to the Authorities for them to be apprehended and prosecuted.
