Mohamed Lamarane Bah, communications director for Sierra Leone’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), told CNN that several people were in critical condition after the blast.
Bah said officials have shifted the injured people to hospitals and collected the bodies and that rescue operations at the scene were over.
The NDMA, in a statement posted on Facebook on Saturday afternoon, said the explosion occurred after a collision of two vehicles on the highway when the fuel tanker was about to enter a filling station nearby.
“Footage and eyewitnesses reported that the two drivers came out of their vehicles when the collision occurred and warned community residents to stay away from the scene while trying to plug the leak from the collision,” the statement said. ” It said that while this was happening, “some community members rushed to the spot and took advantage of the leak to filter the fuel and store it in a nearby temporary structure.”
“Due to the fuel being scooped, a major explosion occurred resulting in a fire disaster,” it said.
The NDMA immediately visited the scene and coordinated the emergency response with the partners. Ambulances were assembled to transport corpses and people in critical conditions to various hospitals in Freetown.
The NDMA statement said 92 people have been admitted to hospitals within Freetown.
Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer said in a statement on Facebook that she was “saddened to hear of an explosion on Bye Bureh Road, Wellington, when a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck.”
“The video and photo footage going viral on social media is disturbing,” Aki-Sayer said.
“My condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the blast. May the departed soul rest in peace,” he said.
.