FREETOWN, Nov 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The state-run central morgue in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown has received 91 bodies as a result of a fuel tanker explosion that occurred in the early hours of Saturday, its manager Sinneh Kamara said.
Vice President, Dr Mohammed Juldeh Jalloh visited the Connaught Hospital and 34-Military Hospital last night and later visited the scene where the sad and unfortunate incident took place at Wellington, east of the capital.
Several badly-burned victims lay on the streets of Freetown as the fire blazed through shops and houses nearby, social media images showed.
“The video and photo footage making rounds on social media is harrowing,” said Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city. “There are rumors that more than 100 people have lost their lives.”
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 was 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. — NNN-AGENCIES
