Fuel tanker blast in Sierra Leone capital causes deaths, injuries

A fuel tanker has exploded following a collision in the capital of Sierra Leone, causing numerous casualties, the mayor and media said, but exact figures were not known.

Several badly burned victims lay on the streets of Freetown as fire on Friday blazed through shops and houses nearby, social media images showed, although the Reuters news agency was not immediately able to independently verify the clips.

“The video and photo footage making rounds on social media are harrowing,” said Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the of the port city. “There are rumours that more than 100 people have lost their lives.”

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

The blast after the collision with a truck claimed victims among those who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle, she added in a posting on Facebook.

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.

“It is a terrible, terrible accident,” Brima Bureh Sesay, the chief of the National Disaster Management Agency, told a magazine.