Apiate town destroyed by widespread explosive blast
About 14 dead from Apiate blast
President Akufo-Addo donates to Apiate residents
Political activist, Kwame A Plus, has alleged that the company at the centre of the catastrophic explosion at Apiate, a community near Bogoso in the Prestea Huni-Valley District of the Western region, was involved in another fatal explosive of similar fashion in Burkina Faso.
He claimed that the blast from Burkina Faso also claimed a number of lives.
According to him, he has authoritative evidence that shows that Maxam Company Limited went against several advices on how it transports its explosives, one of which led to the disaster of January 20, 2022.
“The company which was transporting explosives that caused the accident at Apiate was warned severally that a disaster was imminent. This is according to WhatsApp voice messages, which, according to my sources, were sent to the manager of the company when he refused to pick his calls. I personally listened to these messages on an honorable member of parliament’s phone on Friday.
“Information I have is that, not long ago, this same company caused a similar accident somewhere in Burkina Faso, where about 14 people were said to have lost their lives,” he said in a Facebook post.
He further alleged that in the voice notes that he listened to, the Maxam Company Limited had been advised on other safer ways of transporting their products but they ignored the counsel.
“According to the voice messages I listened to, the company was warned not to transport finished explosive products to the site. Rather, they should transport chemicals for making the explosives to the mining site and mix them there. All these warnings, according to the recording I heard, were ignored,” he said.
The Apiate disaster has so far claimed about lives, with more than 100 people sustaining several degrees of injuries.
The homes of over 500 plus people in the community too were completely destroyed.
While President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has made a donation to the affected people, he is yet to visit the community.
He has however been represented by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who promised the people of Apiate that the government will rebuild their community for them.