The Minerals Commission has said the quarry, which exploded at Kobenandohkrom in the Shama District of the Western on Sunday was operating illegally.
The commission said mine inspectors noticed that the company was working at night ostensibly to prevent them from being noticed by the inspectors of the Commission and the local task force comprising the police and members of the Sand Winners and Quarry Association.
A routine monitoring visit by the inspectors from the Takoradi Office of the Commission to the site revealed that the enterprise was engaged in site cleaning and preparatory works and had conducted a run of the machines and equipment on-site without the approval of the Commission.
In a statement, the commission said its preliminary investigations confirm that the site of the explosion is the subject of an application by a company with the name STA Addsams Enterprise.
An explosion at the STA Addsam quarry mine, formerly Omini Quarry, in the Shama District in the Western Region, has killed four persons and left many injured.
Many night workers, believed to be Chinese and Ghanaians, were burnt beyond recognition, while others, including the managing director (MD) of the company, are still missing.
Those who survived were rushed to the various hospitals in the district and Sekondi.
A fuel station and the only health post in the area were not spared, as the blast caused extensive damage to countless structures and compromised the structural integrity of many buildings.
Sunday’s incident is the second to hit the Western Region in less than two years after an explosion wiped out Appeatse in January last year.
The explosion is said to have occurred at about half past midnight yesterday from an unapproved storage for explosives.
Checks by the Daily Graphic from multiple sources revealed that the explosives were being kept in an adjoining facility to the residence of the workers of the company without a permit from regulators, contrary to the law governing the acquisition, storage, and use of explosives.