- Tanker truck explosion causes massive loss of live in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown.
- The blast occurred in the early hours of Saturday after the tanker collided with another vehicle.
- There are 30 seriously burned victims in the hospital who are not expected to survive.
According to central morgue officials in Sierra Leone‘s capital, more than 90 people have been killed in a fuel tanker blast in Freetown this morning.
A Freetown tanker truck explosion caused massive loss of life, with 100 people feared dead.
The blast occurred in the early hours of Saturday after the fuel tanker had collided with another vehicle and people gathered to collect leaking fuel.
Many of the victims were allegedly trying to collect fuel after an accident on the road.
“Residents who tried to collect the fuel leaking from the truck were victims of the subsequent explosion,” Freetown’s Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr wrote in a statement on Facebook, but later deleted this part.
The claim that people were collecting fuel is supported by footage of excited people standing around the tanker, some carrying canisters, which was allegedly taken shortly before the explosion.
Freetown officials report that the city morgue received 91 bodies following the explosion so far. The head of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said it was a “terrible, terrible accident.”
In the hours after the incident, the death toll cited by officials has been steadily increasing. Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh said at least 92 people were killed after visiting two hospitals that received victims.
A later update revised it to 95. A deputy health minister later put the death toll at 99.
According to the Connaught Hospital staff member, there were 30 seriously burned victims who were not expected to survive.
His Excellency Ambassador Junisa Precious Gbeteh Sallu Kallon – GGA joins in solidarity the hundreds of souls lost to the PMB Wellington fuel explosion in east side of my beloved Capital – Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Comments from Sierra Leone
It’s a #blackfriday for Junisa Precious Gbeteh Sallu Kallon, personally as Junisa Precious Sallu Kallon has learned the loss of properties and lives of close friends and distant relatives amongst the dozens lost lives to the explosion of a 40ft-long fuel tanker.
It’s a solemn day and weekend that has to scare our history as Freetonian for all eternity. As I have learned from the Freetown City Council we have 92 injured (48 at Connaught Hospital, 6 at Choithrams Hospital, 20 at 34 Military Hospital, 18 at Emergency Hospital); we have lost additional 94 souls at Connaught Mortuary; potentially 4 corpses are still at the scene of the explosion.
Junisa Precious Sallu Kallon wants to thank the swift emergency response of our Metropolitan Police and Deputy Mayor and the Freetown City Council, the Entire Government of Sierra Leone especially the National Disaster Management Agency – Sierra Leone (NDMA), who is leading response.
Alain St. Ange, president of the African Tourism Board issued a statement saying: “Our deepest sympathies to the people and government of Sierra Leone on this national tragedy.”
