UPDATE: According to Adom FM’s Kofi Adoma officials have confirmed the man died in the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased sustained serious burns after fire gutted portions of the loading bay of the refinery on Tuesday and was rushed to the Tema General Hospital.

Officials are yet to name the second person to have died from the blaze.

Another worker, identified as Thomas Ebo Fryer, was burnt to death on Tuesday.

Nine tankers were burnt completely while another, in an attempt to escape the blaze, ran into a drain. Four sheds of the loading area also got burnt.

TOR officials have, however, assured that the fire outbreak would not halt operations at the refinery and that fuel supply to distributors would continue.

ORIGINAL: A huge inferno engulfed the Loading Gantry of the Tema Oil Refinery yesterday, claiming the life of a worker of the plant and injuring two others.

Also destroyed in the blaze were company equipment and nine fuel tankers.

The charred body of the worker has been conveyed to the Police Hospital, while the two injured workers, identified as Humphery Ahiekpor, 57, and Samuel Okine, 30, are receiving treatment at the Tema General Hospital.

The deceased worker, Thomas Ebo Fryer, 60, was said to be due for retirement in March this year.
Two of the nine tankers were burnt beyond recognition.

The equipment which was affected by the fire, whose cause is yet to be determined, included meters, pipe systems and an automatic fire splinker system.

It was a run-for-your-life scene, as smoke blended with flames could be sighted from afar.
According to eyewitness accounts, the vicinity of the refinery became charged when the fire started, with tanker drivers moving their vehicles, while workers ran helter-skelter for their lives.

They said the tankers were being loaded with premix fuel for distribution to outlets in the country when the incident occurred.
The fire also caused a panic situation as hawkers, drivers and workers of other industries in the vicinity took cover.
All vehicles moving towards the industrial area were directed to turn back.

Briefing the media after the fire had been brought under control, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Mr Albert Gaisie, said the Tema Fire Station had a call after 10 a.m. concerning the fire outbreak.

He said the Ghana National Fire Service promptly mobilised six fire tenders, with support from nine other stakeholders, including the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA), the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Immigration Service and the Tema Oil Refinery Fire Brigade, to fight the raging fire.

Mr Gaisie said it took the team 20 minutes to bring the fire under control, although smoke continued to emanate from the burnt tankers.

Source: Daily Graphic

Tags: fire kills worker, tankers destroyed, tema oil refinery