Explosion kills more than 70 people sheltering from rain

AN EXPLOSION at a petrol station in Accra, Ghana, has killed at least 73 people according to local authorities.
Although a Ghana Fire Service spokesman said the cause of the explosion remained unclear, it is suspected fire may have spread from a nearby home or lorry terminal in the Kwame Nkrumah Circle area.
The tragedy occurred as many people had taken shelter at the station from torrential rain which has been falling in the area for two days, stranding people and flooding areas of the city.
Graphic national television images showed emergency workers, police officers and soldiers recovering bodies from the scene and piling them onto a truck, and work continues to clear the site before an exact death toll can be given.
A Red Cross coordinator said more than 70 had died, while the fire service alone was reported to have picked up 73 bodies, filling the morgues of local hospitals.