Python encounter triggers deadly blast at Tarkwa tailings site - Police

The Western Central Regional Police Command launched investigations into an explosion at a tailings site in Aboso near Tarkwa around midday on Tuesday, August 4. Preliminary findings point to the suspected illegal storage of explosives. Workers at the site reportedly spotted a python and alerted the owner, identified as David Kofi Fletcher, who arrived with a pump-action shotgun to kill the reptile. Police suspect that after a shot was fired, the pellets struck explosive materials believed to have been unlawfully stored at the site, triggering a powerful blast.

The explosion killed Mr. Fletcher and two other persons identified only as Solomon and Baba. Three others sustained varying degrees of injuries and are currently receiving treatment at the hospital. The bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the Tarkwa Municipal Hospital Mortuary pending autopsy. The blast caused significant damage to surrounding properties, shattering window panes in several homes and damaging windscreens and side windows of six vehicles parked at a nearby washing bay. The Minerals Commission has been notified and is working with the police as part of the ongoing investigation. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the police cautioned the public against the unlawful possession, storage, handling, or sale of explosives.