Update: How flying rocks killed 3 persons at Budumburam

Georgina Bamfo was helpless as her hands were drenched in her father’s blood. She had just watched him slip away in her arms, calling desperately to neighbors for help.

The daughter of Thomas Kofi, she could do nothing but scream in agony as her father took his last breath.

“We realised the ground was shaking and tried to run into the room with my dad, but he suddenly laid on me with his hands around my waist. I quickly run, I returned and saw him under a table, bleeding profusely,” she recalled.

A 7-month-old baby, too young to comprehend the disaster, has been crying since the explosion. The mother of the baby appeared worried and wondering why such a tragedy could happen to her baby.

“My husband and the baby were sleeping when we heard a noise like stones. Some fell on the baby’s leg and head”.

At St. Gregory Catholic Hospital in Budumburam, more than 45 victims were admitted on Monday, October 13, following the devastating blast. By the first day, 34 victims with minor injuries had been discharged, but 13, remain under close watch.

Twenty-four-year-old Rosemond Abaaidu, who runs a hair salon at the Budumburam market, was caught off guard when pieces of rock burst through her ceiling, sending debris crashing into her shop. She recalls the moment with disbelief, wondering how a seemingly distant blast could wreak such havoc.

“How the piece of flying rocks managed to penetrate into shop through the ceiling was quite shocking,” she said.

Shaibu Usif, a butcher at the same market, was also among those who narrowly escaped the deadly flying rocks. The fear in his eyes reveals the lasting trauma.

“I was sleeping in a corridor, when I heard a noise and decided to wake up. Unfortunately, I met a stone that hit my head.”

The hospital administrator, Mathias Ayegre Anaba, says his team is doing everything they can to manage the situation.

Residents of Budumburam claim this isn’t the first time rock blasting has endangered their lives. The blasts have often damaged homes, leaving behind holes in walls and fear in their hearts. This time, however, the rocks have taken more than property, they’ve taken lives.

The road construction site where the rock blast originated now stands deserted, abandoned in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The Ministry of Roads and Highways says it is working with the Ghana Police Service and NADMO to determine the number of casualties and provide the necessary care.

The Ministry highlighted that, 21 previous controlled blasts at the site had been carried out without any incidents and assured the public of a thorough investigation, with findings to be disclosed later.

Read also:

Roads Ministry probes cause of fatal rock blast accident at Buduburam; condoles bereaved families

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