Ghana's police and immigration officers have held an emotional farewell ceremony for colleagues killed in the Hamile dynamite explosion, firing gunshots into the air in a final salute as they laid their fallen comrades to rest.

Four days after the explosion tore through a border patrol at Hamile, officers from the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Police Service gathered for the ceremony, with some struggling to hold back tears even as they stood at attention. A video shared on 7 November captured the moment personnel rendered a final salute before firing into the air as a mark of honour for the deceased officers.

The blast happened in the early hours of Tuesday, 3 November, in the Upper West Region near the border with Burkina Faso. According to the Ghana Immigration Service, a four-member patrol tried to stop a motor tricycle carrying explosives through an unauthorised route towards Burkina Faso when the load detonated. Three people were killed, an immigration officer and two civilians, and another immigration officer was seriously injured and airlifted to Accra for treatment.

The Foundation for Security and Development in Africa (FOSDA) has called for a comprehensive investigation into the explosion. It said there was no established evidence linking the incident to terrorist activity or organised armed groups, but warned that the uncontrolled movement of explosives posed wider national and regional security risks. FOSDA also said it had received accounts suggesting the explosion may have followed an immigration officer firing at the tricycle to stop it, and referred to reports of civilians injured during a later confrontation between residents and security personnel.

The government has imposed a curfew on Hamile and surrounding communities, since revised to run from 10pm to 4am, and the Comptroller-General of Immigration has travelled to the area to assess the situation.

[Source: chale.news](https://chale.news/tears-gunfire-salute-as-security-agencies-bury-hamile-blast-victims/) | [Source: ghanaguardian.com](https://ghanaguardian.com/fosda-demands-full-probe-after-explosives-blast-kills-three-in-ghana/)