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“I am at a loss for words to express how I feel…” says President John Dramani Mahama.

The President on Thursday visited the scene of the flood-induced fire disaster that occurred at the Goil Filling Station next to the GCB Bank Circle Tower branch in Accra the previous night.

Early morning updates indicate the explosion claimed nearly two hundred lives with the 37 Military Morgue said to be filled to capacity.

Security officials at the scene of the devastation are reportedly exploring the possibility of transporting the bodies of some of the victims to the Police Hospital morgue.

Officials of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) initially put the death toll at 96, but more bodies were recovered from the scene Thursday morning.

President Mahama speaking to the media during his visit, bemoaned the behaviour of Ghanaians when it comes to implementing measures to avoid such disasters especially during the rainy season.

According to him, there is the need for structures on waterways to be demolished and pleaded that Ghanaians understand and support authorities when such measures are being implemented.

“A lot of people have lost their lives. I am at a loss for words to express how I feel, many of them through the floods and then many of them through the fire incident that took place here as the result of the explosion that took place in the filling station located right here. We have to take some measures to be able to avoid this in the future, and often when these moves are started, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take those measures but I think that the time has come for us to move out of the waterways and the public should understand that… I mean this loss of lives is catastrophic…we shouldn’t continue to be like the vulture who says he would roof his house when the rain stops. Year-in-year-out this continues to happen and until we attack it scientifically and strategically we will continue to have these problems.”

He however, commended the security agencies "for their diligence and expressed my condolences to relatives who have lost their loved ones".