13 people had been confirmed dead in Thursday’s explosion at Appiatse, in the Bogoso District of Ghana’s Western Region, following an accident involving a truck conveying explosives to a mining company and a motorcycle.

“It’s almost like a ghost town now,” Sedzi Sadzi Amedonu, a senior official from the country’s disaster management agency, told the AFP news agency.

He said about 500 houses were affected – some of which were completely destroyed – in Appiatse between Bogoso and the village of Bawdie.

Local police commander William Jabialu said the number of confirmed deaths had been revised down to 13 from a previous toll of 17.

He said another 45 were being treated in local hospitals.

There are fears that the number of deaths may rise as emergency teams comb through the remains of the houses.