On Sunday, January 20, 2022, a motorbike collided with a truck carrying 10 tons of explosives causing a blast that leveled the entire town of Apiate, located in western Ghana. The explosives were being delivered to the nearby Chirano gold mine. The small town was reduced to rubble, timber and twisted metal, with a large crater at the center of the explosion. As of January 25, 13 people had been killed and approximately 200 injured.
Learn more about the Ghana truck explosion in the following news articles:
When crises occur, Maxar is committed to supporting the humanitarian community by providing critical and actionable information to assist response efforts and fulfill our purpose, For A Better World. As part of our Open Data Program, Maxar will publicly release data of the affected areas to support response efforts as it becomes available.
Any imagery or data distributed through the Open Data Program is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 license (CC BY-NC 4.0). This licensing allows for noncommercial use of the information, meaning it can quickly be integrated into first responder workflows with organizations like Team Rubicon, the Red Cross and other nonprofits. If commercial companies are interested in using the data distributed through the Open Data Program, it can be purchased by contacting us here.
Imagery has been posted on our Open Data Program website. Please continue to check this site and our social media channels for updates on additional post-event data.
Before and after satellite images of the damage caused by a truck explosion in Apiate, Ghana.