It’s been a while since I posted on my blog. Don’t worry, I’m not going to apologize and give excuses as usual. Here’s the first part of a series I’m going to start to update you on what’s been happening to me.
I’m sure the title made you worried. If it did, thanks for caring. If it didn’t, that’s okay. Anyway, I’m also sure this is going to be old news for my Ghanaian readers. For other readers, sit back and get comfortable because I’m going to give you all the gists from the inside, yep yep.
Comfortable? Here we go…
So it was a normal Saturday like all other Saturdays. I was in my bed in my hostel room using my phone as usual when we all heard it. I don’t know how to describe the sound. I think it was a loud BANG! And then darkness followed, I kid you not. My roommate, Maygrace, was in the upper bunk of our bed when she started whispering my name.
Adoma?
Adoma?
Are you still there?
I didn’t think it was anything serious. It was probably just the transformer that had exploded so the generator would be turned on soon. Life was good. I went out of my hostel room to see what was going on because she was scared. Everyone was outside, laughing. They were laughing because they were happy the Rapture hadn’t happened. I couldn’t believe people were on the hallway thinking it could have been the Rapture. Wasn’t the Rapture supposed to come with a trumpet sound? It was still dark, btw, no electricity whatsoever. I was going back to my room when I saw that people, including my roommates, had gathered on the stairway taking videos. Doreen, my roommate as well, was in the bathroom but had also come out to see what’s happening. We saw that a gas station was burning and fire engines were hurrying to the scene. It was pretty close and people were busily snapping and hoping that there wouldn’t be any casualties. Within the raging flames, there were little explosions and we continued to look on. My aunt called me asking if I was okay and I told her I was because truly, I was. “The fire isn’t so close,” I assured her. Students continued chatting and gasping and Snapchat’n when it happened.
The big one
All of a sudden the place became hot and it was like a wave of heat had blown all over us. Girls were screaming really shrill screams. Lmao I was screaming too. Everyone was running, all I could hear were footsteps and screams and more footsteps and more shrill screams. Remember, it was still dark. I saw some friends but it wasn’t time to exchange pleasantries because they too running away from the source of the heat. No one noticed any one. Someone fell behind me but I didn’t stop, I just hoped that whoever it was would be fine. Boys were jumping the staircase a flight at a time. I don’t know how but I had called my father.
Daa! Agya! Agya!- Dad! Fire! Fire!
33ba! 33ba!- It’s coming! It’s coming!
Before I realised, I was in front of my hostel block looking for my roommates. And yes, I was still on the phone with my dad. He told me to be calm down, find my roommates and move away from the fire so he could come and pick us. He said he was coming to take my roommates and I away to somewhere, I don’t remember.
Thankfully, I saw them both. Remember the person who fell? It was my roommate, Maygrace. Doreen was with her as she was bleeding on her lips and crying. She wanted to go back for her car keys but Doreen and I told her not to because it was too dangerous. So we went ahead to follow the crowd. It was like the Exodus in the Bible, a very large migration. It was as though we were being evacuated. The streets were full of people from other hostel blocks, moving away from the heat. Those who were lucky enough to remember their car keys were driving in overloaded vehicles and honking away. After realizing we were safe I was excited, though indeed I was a little worried about the things I had left behind, I was really excited. You don’t get to experience this everyday, you know. Many people were on their phones talking to family members and friends and letting them know they were fine. It was actually a beautiful sight but of course I didn’t say that.
Doreen and I were laughing about the things we had left behind and trying to identify people in the crowd. We also decided to go to the law faculty which was a safe distance away from the fire. From there we could see the orange sky and everything. Once again, I thought it was beautiful. Maygrace got some courage from nowhere and wanted to go back for her car keys. We didn’t want to go because yes, we were scared but after a while we followed her since we didn’t want anything to happen to her alone. This was when I became scared again. What if there is another explosion and we are among the few people to die because we approached the fire?
This is getting long. So, obviously, we didn’t die. My dad came and we realized we didn’t have to go anywhere because the fire was still a safe distance away from our hostel. It was just a wild explosion far away from us. Unlike many people, we slept in our room and laughed at our reactions whilst answering calls from worried family members. I regret calling my father and wasting his time because what if something had happened to him whilst he was rushing to get to my school?
I thank God for my life and that of all my family and friends especially, my roommates. It was a good year for us and hopefully 2018 will be better.
Here’s an article about the explosion, for those interested. These are pictures of the explosion and after the explosion.
Thanks for reading!
Happy New Year in advance
