A fuel tanker has exploded after it collided with another vehicle in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. At least 92 people have been confirmed dead leaving several others injured.
“We have received a report this morning that 92 people have died,” said the Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh. From the scene in an official confirmation of the toll from the explosion on Friday, adding that 88 more were in hospital being treated for severe burns.
Authorities have transferred injured people to hospitals and collected the bodies, and the rescue effort at the scene has ended. Said Mohamed Lamrane Bah, the director of communications for Sierra Leone’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said in a statement on Facebook that she was “saddened to hear about an explosion along Bai Bureh Road, Wellington, after a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck.”
According to one report, a bus full of people was completely burnt, while nearby shops and market stalls were caught up in the flames.
“Our sympathies go out to the families of the victims of the explosion. May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace.”
