The government has mobilised the Ghana Air Force to evacuate an injured immigration officer from the Nandom Hospital to Accra for specialist treatment following an explosion at Hamile in the Upper West Region that killed three people.
The officer, who was wounded in the blast during a border patrol operation, was receiving emergency care at the Nandom Hospital when the decision was taken to transfer him to the national capital.
The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, announced the emergency evacuation in Parliament on Tuesday, November 3, saying an Air Force medical team had been dispatched to undertake the transfer.
“As we speak, we have sent the Air Force medical team to airlift the injured officer from the Nandom Hospital to Accra. They are on their way, hoping that they will be arriving in Accra in the next few minutes,” he told the House.
Mr Muntaka said the injured officer and the colleague who died in the incident had initially been taken to the Nandom Hospital after the explosion.
Three killed in border incident
The blast occurred along an unauthorised route at Hamile on Tuesday, November 3, when a tricycle reportedly carrying suspected explosives exploded during a border patrol operation.
An immigration officer and two civilians died in the incident, while another officer sustained injuries.
The Interior Minister expressed the government’s condolences to the family of the deceased officer and the Ghana Immigration Service, describing the loss as painful.
He said the identities of the affected officers had not been made public out of consideration for their families. The government was also making efforts to contact their relatives.
Risks of border patrols
Mr Muntaka said the incident highlighted the dangers confronting immigration personnel as they carry out their responsibility of protecting the country’s borders, particularly along unauthorised crossing routes.
He assured Parliament that the government remained committed to the welfare and safety of officers deployed to border communities.
The circumstances surrounding the explosion, including the nature and origin of the suspected explosives reportedly being transported on the tricycle, were not detailed in the minister’s parliamentary statement.