Sierra Leone Fuel Tanker Explosion: At Least 84 Killed, Scores Injured

By Staff, Agencies

At least 84 people died on Friday after a fuel tanker exploded in a suburb of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, according to authorities in the West African country.

Mohamed Lamrane Bah, director of communications for Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency [NDMA], said that several people were also in critical condition following the explosion, as reported by CNN.

Authorities have transferred injured people to hospitals and collected the bodies, and the rescue effort at the scene has ended, Bah added.

Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said in a statement on Facebook that she was "saddened to hear about an explosion along Bai Bureh Road, Wellington, after a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck."

"The video and photo footage making rounds on social media are harrowing," Aki-Sawyerr added.

He went on to say, "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”.