ACCRA, Ghana (AFP) — Two explosions rocked Ghana’s capital yesterday, police and local residents said, lighting up the night sky with flames and forcing residents to flee.

Police spokeswoman Efia Tenge said the blasts happened at a petrol station in the Atomic Junction roundabout area of Legon, north-east Accra, at about 7:30 pm.

She told AFP it was a gas explosion and added: “I am in Legon and I heard two explosions. My whole building was shaking.”

There was no immediate confirmation of casualties but local media reported that a number of cars had been burned out as fires spread.

The Accra city authorities warned people to avoid the area, which is also home to the University of Ghana campus.

The blasts will likely revive memories of June 2015 when more than 150 people were killed as they sought shelter from seasonal rains and flooding at a petrol station.

Leaked fuel floating on top of rising waters had caught fire, burning down buildings and the filling stationtrapping people in vehicles as the pumps exploded.

Kobby Boateng, a computer programmer, said he had returned to the university campus with his girlfriend yesterday when the blast happened.

“All of a sudden we heard a ‘boom’ and the flash of an explosion, which made the building just shake and the lights went out,” he said.

“People were rushing out of their rooms. Some of them were naked and the heat that was coming from that blast, my God, it was unbearable.”