Officials and witnesses said on Saturday that after a large crowd gathered to collect the leaked fuel, an oil tanker exploded near the Sierra Leone capital, killing at least 92 people and seriously injuring dozens of others.
The explosion occurred late Friday when a bus ran into an oil tanker in Wellington, a suburb east of Freetown.
The morgue at Connaught Hospital reported that as of Saturday morning, 92 bodies had been transported in. Foday Musa, a staff member in the intensive care unit, said that about 30 victims of severe burns are expected to not survive.
On Saturday, in the fire following the explosion, the injured lay naked on a stretcher and nurses took care of them. Hundreds of people wandered outside the main entrance of the morgue and near the main entrance of the hospital, waiting for news from their relatives.
It is not clear how many people are receiving treatment for burns because the patients were taken to hospitals and clinics in the metropolitan area.
A video of the aftermath of the explosion obtained by the Associated Press showed a huge fireball burning in the night sky, and some severely burned survivors shouted in pain. The charred remains of the victims were scattered on the scene, waiting to be transported to the morgue.
President Julius Madabio, who participated in the UN climate negotiations in Scotland on Saturday, expressed regret for the “horrible loss of life”.
He said on Twitter: “I have deep sympathy for families who have lost their loved ones and families who have been disabled as a result.”
Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh visited two hospitals overnight and said that Sierra Leone’s National Disaster Management Agency and other agencies would “work tirelessly” after the emergency.
“We are all deeply saddened by this national tragedy, which is indeed a difficult time for our country,” he said on his Facebook page.
© 2021 Canadian Press
