On Friday evening, at least 92 people died in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, in the explosion of a tanker. There are also dozens of injured, some very serious and with little chance of survival, writes AP.
According to newspaper reports, the tanker caught fire after being involved in a traffic accident in the industrial area of Wellington, on the outskirts of the city. When the tanker then exploded (it is not yet clear why) the flames hit cars, other vehicles and buildings in the vicinity, killing dozens of people.
Photos and videos circulating on social media show the moments after the accident, with vehicles on fire, people in burnt clothes and charred bodies on the street. Many people were burned to death in their cars, witnesses said of the accident. According to the BBC, the incident occurred around 10pm on Friday near the Choithram Supermarket, in a very densely populated area and on a normally busy stretch of road.
Breaking ????????
A huge explosion of a fuel tanker in Sierra Leone, West Africa, resulted in a number of victims 91 deaths and hundreds of injured, at least the charred bodies #SierraLeone #Africa #FreeTown #Fuel #sierra leone #Africa
pic.twitter.com/LpNshJCiEp— Arabian Gulf News – GCC (@Tadawltwt) November 6, 2021
To make matters worse, Freetown reporter Umaru Fofana wrote for the BBC, there was the fact that many people had approached the tanker to pick up the fuel that was pouring into the street, creating a traffic jam just before the ‘explosion.
The injured were taken to several hospitals throughout the Freetown metropolitan area, which is why it is still difficult to pinpoint the exact total number of people involved and injured. The president of the country Julius Maada Bio wrote that he will do “everything to help the families of the people involved” in the accident.
#Aftermath Warning distressing pictorials: many killed and hundreds injured after a catastrophic accident at the East End of Freetown, Sierra Leone – a 40ft-long fuel Tanker exploded last night. #SierraLeoneFueldisaster #SierraLeoneStories #SaloneTwitter pic.twitter.com/P0npidqHrb
— Alie Bittar (@bittar32) November 6, 2021
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