President John Mahama has declared three days of national mourning of some 200 citizens who lost their lives in an explosion and deadly floods in the capital, Accra.

The government has also released GH¢60 million provide relief to the victims and their families.

A twin fire and flood disaster Wednesday night left some two hundred Ghanaians dead.

Many houses were downed; properties destroyed and washed away by torrents of rain that fell for well over three hours.

The floods are said to be the most serious, even worse than the June 4, 1995 flood disaster which also wreaked havoc on the country.

What made Wednesday night's storm even worse was a fire outbreak at the Goil Filling Station close to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.

Hundreds of people, majority of whom were seeking refuge from the torrential rain suffered a tragic fate when the blast occurred. Their charred bodies were scattered around the area with the level of destruction all too visible.

President John Mahama who visited the scene of the fire described the disaster as catastrophic and unprecedented.

He quickly called a meeting of security chiefs and disaster management experts to fashion a strategy to ameliorate the impact of the disaster.

President John Mahama told the press shortly after the national security council meeting, Thursday rescue operation will continue to the weekend.

“Such rescue operations will continue until the weekend, Sunday. On Monday, we will observe three days of National mourning for the victims of the fire disaster and the flooding. Flags will fly at half-mast from Monday for three days,” he said.