Apiate explosion: Mining truck driver sacked; narrates how accident happened
The truck driver transporting explosives to a mining company at Apiate in the Bogoso District of the Western Region after a motorcycle collided with a vehicle carrying explosives has spoken.
The truck driver transporting explosives to a mining company at Apiate in the Bogoso District of the Western Region after a motorcycle collided with a vehicle carrying explosives has spoken.
The driver, Alfred Pappoe, who is healing himself said his appointment with the mining company, MAXAM has been terminated.
He alleged that his boss at Arthanns Company in February handed him a sack letter with a one-month salary without consideration for the trauma he went through as a result of the accident.
He said his monthly salary was GH¢1,100 adding that his boss explained that the contract with MAXAM Company, had been cancelled after the accident.
He said in an interview on Accra-based Adom FM that "At the end of February, my boss told me that MAXAM Company had terminated the contract with him, as such, he also had to terminate his contract with me."
He stated that he sacrificed to save the community from the effects of the explosion if it had happened in the middle of the town.
Narrating how the explosion happened, Pappoe said "When I was almost getting to Appiatse, the town was in a bend and at that time, the Police escort had already negotiated the bend. I later saw a motorcycle coming from the opposite direction and immediately an Urvan bus was just close to him and trying to overtake a 'Pragya'.
"The motor rider was still following the Urvan and just when the Urvan driver shifted to another lane, the motor rider lost control and two people fell from the motor. The motorcycle was heading towards my direction as he was very close."
Pappoe said the motor's fuel tank had opened and started leaking under his truck which sparked the fire and then came into contact with the truck adding that after he realised there was nothing he could do, he decided to quickly move out of the town before it exploded.
He stated: "When I realised there was nothing I could do, I decided to drive quickly from the town because I knew it was going to explode. That was when some of the residents started drawing closer to the truck and started shouting that the truck was on fire."
"I knew what I was doing and so I didn’t even pay attention to the residents. I wanted to just move out of the town and drive past a fuel station and get a safer place and leave the truck there to explode even though I was feeling the heat in the truck," he noted.
According to him, the residents followed the truck and did not heed to his warning because they wanted to take pictures and videos of the incident.
At least 13 people died and scores injured when the truck carrying explosives detonated.
