June 3 marked exactly one year Ghana was hit by a major flood and fire disaster. Over 150 people died directly or indirectly due to heavy flooding and fire outbreak in the Accra Metropolis in Ghana. One year on, the tragic event was remembered by a blood donation event supported by Mr Herbert Mensah, current President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union and past Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football Club.

The disaster resulted from three days of torrential rainfall which begun on June 1. A blast at a Goil Filling station at Circle, on the night of June 3 and its attendant fire outbreak burnt  a number of people who took shelter at the  Filling station.

Officially 158 people were said to have died from the twin disasters, even though unofficially, the number of death toll is believed to be high.

Herbert Mensah, popular for his role in remembering the 2001 May 9 Accra Sports Stadium Disaster which claimed 127 young football fans played an instrumental role in the blood donation exercise organised in remembrance of June 3 disaster.

Mensah said that both the tragedies of 2001 and 2015 could have been avoided if those in charge of the management of the match (2001) and those in charge of town planning had done their jobs responsibly.

“We can never forget these fatal events. They are a reminder to those charged with the responsibility of looking after the safety of people that the price of negligence can indeed be very costly, “Mensah said.

The blood donation exercise organised by Mensah took place on Friday 3 June 2016 at Reverend Bruce Memorial Methodist Church at Odornaa close to the venue of the GOIL fire tragedy one year ago. The exercise was managed by the National Blood Service, Ghana (NBSG).

According to a spokesperson of NBSG the blood bank never has enough blood and that the Service depends on voluntary blood donors and voluntary donor organisers to bring in their friends, relatives and organised groups. She went on to say that blood donation is a noble, selfless service that not only gives the donor a feeling of joy and contentment but that it is a civic responsibility.

A huge crowd remembered the event with many dignitaries in attendance including the Mayor of Accra Metropolitan Assembly at the time of the disaster, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, and renowned lawyer Philip Addison who has been elected parliamentary candidate for the New Patriotic Party in the Klottey Korley constituency.  

 

Herbert Mensah, President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union and former Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko with ???

 

Herbert Mensah, President of the Ghana Rugby Football Union and former Chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko with ???

 

A huge crowd gathered to remember the June 3d flooding that resulted in the deaths of 225 people.

One of the Jund 3d flood victims relives the horror of the night of 3 June 2015 when a combination of heavy floods in Accra and a gas explosion at a GOIL filling station took the lives of 225 innocent people.

 

Herbert Mensah mobilised the Ghana Rugby Family to join in the remembrance by donating blood. Here the captain of the national Ghana men’s sevens team, Sani Alhassan, gladly makes a gift of life by donating blood.

Herbert Mensah mobilised the Ghana Rugby Family to join in the remembrance by donating blood. Here the President of the Ghana Rugby Union Players Association (GRUPA), gladly makes a gift of life by donating blood.