Sierra Leone gas station explosion kills at least 92 people

Associated Press – At least 92 people were killed and dozens were seriously injured as a result of the attack tank truck explosion At a gas station near the capital Sierra LeoneOn Saturday, as a large crowd gathered to collect the spilled fuel, authorities and witnesses said.

The explosion occurred on Friday night after a bus collided with a truck inside Wellington, a suburb of East Freetown.

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The Connaught Hospital mortuary said that as of Saturday morning, it had received 92 bodies. Foday Musa, an employee in the hospital’s intensive care unit, said about 30 people are with them severe burns They may not survive.

Victims whose clothes were burned in the ensuing fire ExplosionThey waited, lying naked on stretchers, while nurses treated them on Saturday. Hundreds gathered outside the mortuary and hospital doors, waiting for news of their loved ones.

It was not immediately clear how many people were being treated burns Because those affected were taken to various hospitals and clinics in the capital area.

video obtained Associated Press It showed a large fireball burning in the dark sky after ExplosionWhile some of the severely burned survivors cried out in pain. She inherited the charred remains of the dead at the scene awaiting transport to the morgue.

The country’s president, Julius Maada Bio, who was in Scotland to attend United Nations Conference on Climate ChangeRegretted the “terrible loss of life”.

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“My condolences to the families who lost loved ones and those maimed as a result,” the president wrote on Twitter.

For his part, Vice President Mohamed Jelda Jelwa visited two hospitals at night, and noted that the National Disaster Management Agency and other agencies were “working tirelessly” after what happened.

“We are all deeply saddened by this national tragedy, a really difficult period for our country,” he said on his Facebook page..