Freetown fuel tanker explosion

On 5 November 2021 a collision between a

Freetown 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

At 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

Many 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

The 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