According to local media, emergency services have confirmed that an explosion at a fuel station in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, has resulted in at least 11 fatalities and over 80 injuries. Ignace Deen and Donka, the city’s two largest hospitals, are reportedly overflowing with seriously ill patients.
Hundreds of people were forced to escape as the early-morning incident in the former French colony blew out the windows of several adjoining residences, a local told Reuters.
Colonel Mohamed Camara, the director of civil protection, claims that a major fire that broke out after the explosion at the main oil terminal in Guinea in the Kaloum administrative area of the capital has been prevented from spreading further.
“There were several deaths,” he said, but the precise number will only be known after an inquiry that also identifies the explosion’s origin.
As a non-oil producing nation, Guinea imports refined oil, which is primarily kept at the Guinean Petroleum Company’s gasoline station in Kaloum and transported around the nation by truck.
Social media footage revealed a massive fire and towering clouds of black smoke rising from the building as emergency personnel raced to the site.
Workers have been told to stay at home by the military administration, with the exception of emergency, security, and medical personnel. Closing orders have also been issued for schools.
The administration released a statement saying, “Petrol stations will be closed, except for emergency services.”
Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, the interim president of Guinea, who took over the country in a coup in 2021, called the occurrence a “tragedy” and urged people to “show solidarity and prayer for the nation in these moments of hard trial.”
In a statement made public by Guinee Live, Doumbouya said, “I would like to present my saddened condolences to the families of victims as well as the people of Guinea. I wish a speedy recovery to the injured who are immediately and fully supported by the State.”
