Marwako Restaurant staff evacuated over gas leakage
The early detection of a gas leakage at the Labadi branch of Marwako Fast Food prevented what could have become another disaster from a gas explosion.
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It took the timely intervention of personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to save the situation.
The leakage, according to management of the fast food company, was detected around 10:35 a.m. on Monday, and was immediately reported to personnel of the GNFS, who arrived at the scene shortly afterwards to prevent a possible disaster.
When the Daily Graphic got to the scene around 1pm, fire engines of the GNFS were there discharging water to the leaking gas cylinder.
There were no casualties, neither were there any reported injuries.
Narrating the incident to the Daily Graphic, the General Manager of Marwako Fast Food, Mr Richard Kponor, said one of the employees in charge of safety in the morning reported the smell of gas.
After preliminary investigation, he said, the management detected that one of the gas cylinders was leaking.
He added that the employees were evacuated after which a call was placed to the GNFS whose timely arrival helped to avert a possible disaster.
Fire service intervention
The Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Mr Prince Billy Anaglate, told reporters that fire personnel discharged water on the cylinder in order to cool it to prevent an explosion.
He explained that while cooling the cylinder, the valve had to be opened to allow the gas to completely escape from the cylinder for safety reasons.
Mr Anaglate lauded the efforts of the authorities for the timely call to the GNFS to intervene, adding that “any further delay could have caused an explosion.”
He noted that the Atomic Junction gas explosion could have been avoided, if the gas leakage was detected timeously to alert the GNFS.
For the GNFS spokesperson, the issue was not really about the siting of gas stations but what the country currently needed was adequate mitigating measures to reduce the impact of gas explosions on affected people.
The Marketing and Communications Manager of Marwako Fast Food, Mr Mohammed Amin Lamptey, told the Daily Graphic that the institution had trained its staff to detect any defect that could endanger the lives of the staff and customers.
Chain of explosions
Recent gas explosions across the country have claimed many lives, leaving experts to attribute the phenomenon to the failure by institutions to institute safety measures to prevent such disasters.
In May, 2017, one person was reported dead, with five others injured, as a result of gas explosion at a welding shop at Lamashegu, a suburb of Tamale, in the Northern Region.
Also in June this year, an explosion at a fuel pump at the Pioneer Food Cannery (PFC), a tuna canning company in Tema, killed two persons and left five others with varying degrees of burns.
Similarly, in May 2017, about 50 people (including personnel of the GNFS) sustained varying degrees of injury in Sekondi following a multiple gas explosion.
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