Fuel tanker exploded after a collision in Freetown, killing dozens and injuring at least 100 people
 |
| People look on at a pile of burnt motorbikes in the aftermath of a fuel tanker explosion in Freetown. PHOTO: AFP |
The explosion took
place late on Friday after a vehicle struck the tanker in Wellington, a suburb
just to the east of Freetown.
The death toll on
Saturday afternoon stood at 99, with more than 100 people being treated in
hospitals and clinics across the city, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told
Reuters news agency.
Victims included
people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle,
Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city, said in a post on Facebook.
Several badly burned
victims lay on the streets as flames blazed through shops and houses nearby,
unverified social media images showed.
“The video and photo
footage making rounds on social media are harrowing,” Aki-Sawyerr said.
The extent of damage
to property was as yet unknown, the mayor said, adding that police and her
deputy were at the scene to assist disaster management officials.
“We’ve got so many
casualties, burned corpses,” said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National
Disaster Management Agency, in a video from the scene shared online. “It’s a
terrible, terrible accident.”
Dozens of people are feared dead after a gas station exploded on Friday night in the eastern surbub of #Freetown #SierraLeone, rescue efforts continue pic.twitter.com/9QdiR6VIFj
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) November 6, 2021
Omar Fofana, a
journalist speaking from the scene of the explosion, told Al Jazeera that dozens
of people have admitted at various hospitals.
Health services have
been stretched, with hospitals “asking for everything that they need to be able
to respond,” he added.
Fofana said that many
people were sitting in heavy traffic when the explosion happened.
“Many of those who
died, or were burned, were burned inside their vehicles,” he said.
According to Fofana,
an emergency response meeting is expected to take place later on Saturday,
which will be chaired by the country’s vice president.
President Julius
Maada Bio, who was in Scotland attending the United Nations climate talks,
deplored the “horrendous loss of life”.
“My profound
sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been
maimed as a result,” he wrote on Twitter.
Deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life around the Wellington PMB area. My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result. My Government will do everything to support affected families. pic.twitter.com/xJRA1UtCJJ
— President Julius Maada Bio (@PresidentBio) November 6, 2021
About Gerbang Mujahid
0 Comments :
Post a Comment