Fuel tanker explodes, killing dozens in Sierra Leone

A fuel tanker exploded following a collision with another truck in Sierra Leone on Friday, killing dozens of people and injuring more than 100 others.

Deputy Health Minister Amara Jambai told Reuters that at least 99 people had died and many more were seeking treatment across the country’s capital city.

“We’ve got so many casualties, burnt corpses,” said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National Disaster Management Agency. “It’s a terrible, terrible accident.”

Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr noted in a statement on Facebook that “video and photo footage making rounds on social media are harrowing.”

“My sympathies go out to the families and loved ones of the victims of the explosion. May the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace,” the mayor said.

The mayor said the full extent of the damage from the collision is not clear. 

A Reuters reporter said hundreds gathered to see the exploded fuel tanker on Saturday morning, with burnt human remains and destroyed cars still on the street.

“My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result,” President Julius Maada Bio tweeted. “My Government will do everything to support affected families.”