On 5 November 2021 a collision between a petrol fuel tanker and a lorry at a busy junction of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, resulted in an explosion and a fire that caused 154 deaths and 304 injuries,[1] overwhelming the city's medical services.
 | |
| Date | 5 November 2021 |
|---|---|
| Time | c. 22:00 GMT (UTC±0) |
| Location | Wellington, Freetown, Sierra Leone |
| Coordinates | 8°26′39″N 13°09′42″W / 8.44417°N 13.16167°W |
| Type | Fuel tanker explosion |
| Cause | Collision between a fuel tanker and a lorry |
| Deaths | 154 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 304 |
| Property damage |
|
Background
editFreetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, with a population of more than 1.2 million people. The accident occurred at a busy intersection along Bai Bureh Road in the neighbourhood of Wellington, Freetown's main industrial district.[2] The intersection where the accident occurred is popularly known as PMB, short for the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing Board (SLPMB), a defunct parastatal whose old factory buildings are located adjacent the intersection.[3]
Event
editAt approximately 22:00 GMT on 5 November 2021, a fuel tanker carrying petrol attempted to make a turn outside Choithram Supermarket in the Freetown suburb of Wellington. A lorry reported to be carrying granite collided with the tanker at the junction creating a fuel leakage.[2][4][5] The two drivers came out of their vehicles and warned community residents to stay off the scene, according to Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency.[4]
Petrol spilled from the tanker and locals, particularly okada riders, attempted to collect it in containers. An explosion led to a huge fireball that engulfed vehicles, people and passengers that were stuck in traffic created by the initial collision.[6]
The mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, said that the damage was exacerbated by people who gathered at the lorry, scooped the leaking fuel in containers and placed them in close proximity to the crash scene.[citation needed] This created traffic chaos with many people, including passengers in cars and buses, stuck very close to the scene of the accident.[7][8]
Victims
editMany of the victims were trapped in vehicles,[2][7] including a bus full of people which was intensely burnt, killing all inside. Nearby shops and markets caught fire after fuel spilled onto the streets.[7] Footage broadcast by local media outlets showed charred bodies surrounding the tanker.[2] At least 99 people were initially confirmed to have been killed in the disaster, and more than 100 others were injured.[8] The death toll rose to 131 five days after the explosion[9] and reached 151 by 6 December.[10]
Aftermath
editThe Directorate of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), issued a statement confirming that the injured had been transferred to hospitals and the bodies had been collected. They added that rescue efforts at the scene had ended by 16:45 GMT on 6 November. Several people are in critical condition.[11] According to a staff member at Connaught Hospital's intensive care unit, about 30 severely burned victims taken to the unit were not expected to survive.[4] Sierra Leone's president Julius Maada Bio, who was attending the United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, offered condolences and promised support to the victims' families.[4][7] The country's vice president Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh visited two of the hospitals where some of the victims were taken to for treatment,[4] but it was later reported that the hospital services had been completely overwhelmed.[7] On 8 November those who died during the explosion were buried in a mass ceremony in Waterloo, on the outskirts of Freetown.[12] President Bio declared a three-day national mourning and ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast, and indicated that a task force will be set up to look into what happened, and will provide recommendations that will help to avoid similar tragedies in the future.[12]
The event has been described as first of its kind in the densely populated city of about 1.2 million[11][2] and follows a number of similar high-casualty fuel tanker explosions across sub-Saharan Africa where fuel spilled was viewed as wasteful in communities where many struggled to afford petrol.[5] Mass casualties from similar events have occurred in the 2018 Mbuba tanker explosion in the Democratic Republic of Congo that killed 50 and the 2019 Morogoro explosion in Tanzania that killed 85.[8][13]
References
edit- ^ "Weekly bulletin on outbreaks and other emergencies, Week 4: 17 – 23 January 2022" (PDF). World Health Organization. 23 January 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Sierra Leone explosion: Many feared dead after oil tanker collision". BBC News. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ Sierra Express Media (2013) Public Notice: Transfer Of Assets Of Former SLPMB To Newly Established SLPMC. Sierra Express Media. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Roy-Macaulay, Clarence; Larson, Krista (6 November 2021). "Oil tanker explodes in Sierra Leone, killing at least 98". AP News. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ a b Paquette, Danielle (6 November 2021). "Fuel tanker explosion kills at least 98 in Sierra Leone". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ Hayden, Sally (7 November 2021). "'The fire was all over him': Oil tanker explosion devastates lives in Freetown". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Fuel tanker blast in Sierra Leone capital causes deaths, injuries". Al Jazeera. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ a b c Fofana, Umaru (6 November 2021). "Ninety-nine killed in fuel tanker blast in Sierra Leone capital". Reuters. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Death toll in Freetown fuel tanker explosion rises to 131". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
- ^ "Weekly bulletin on outbreaks and other emergencies, Week 50: 6 – 12 December 2021" (PDF). World Health Organization. 12 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ a b Rebane, Teele; Xiong, Yong (6 November 2021). "At least 84 killed in Sierra Leone fuel tanker explosion". CNN. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Sierra Leone tanker explosion: Mass burial in Freetown". BBC News. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ Kottasová, Ivana; Mwanza, Faraji (10 August 2019). "At least 61 people killed in a fuel tanker explosion in Tanzania". CNN. Retrieved 8 November 2021.