The morning of June 3, 2015, began like any ordinary day in Ghana’s capital city Accra, with residents going about their daily routines unaware of the tragedy that lay ahead.

Unfortunately, by evening, dark clouds gathered and heavy rains began to pour, turning what seemed like a normal rainy night into one of the darkest moments in the country’s history.

As floodwaters submerged parts of Accra, a devastating fire erupted at the GOIL fuel station near Kwame Nkrumah Circle, trapping and killing scores of people who had sought shelter from the storm.

By the end of the night, more than 150 lives had been lost in a twin disaster that left the nation in shock and mourning.

Eleven years on, this GhanaWeb article revisits the events of that fateful night, the lives lost, and the painful memories that continue to linger in the hearts of many Ghanaians.

11 years on, read one of the reports GhanaWeb published on the June 3 disaster in 2015.

June 3 Disaster: This loss is catastrophic, unprecedented - Mahama

President Mahama, who visited the areas in the early morning of Thursday, June 4, 2015, was appalled by the situation and blamed human activity as a contributory factor to the flooding from the heavy downpour of Wednesday.

He said government officials were working throughout the night to offer support to victims and they will take measures to make sure it never happens again.

"Often when these measures are drastic, you have a lot of sympathy and pressure not to take those measures but I think that the time has come for us to remove houses out of water ways and the public should understand that it is necessary to save everybody else," he said.

President Mahama also described the heavy loss of lives on Wednesday, June 3, 2015 as "catastrophic and unprecedented."

VPO