PH
Guinean authorities shuttered schools and asked workers to remain home Monday after a fire broke out at the country’s biggest fuel depot, injuring many people.
The explosion and subsequent fire in Conakry pushed dense black clouds of smoke into the sky early Monday as inhabitants left the area where the blast occurred, according to photographs shared on social media.
According to local media and residents reached by AFP, the fire broke out shortly after midnight near the port.
“Private and public sector workers are asked to stay home” and “public and private schools have been closed”, the government said in a statement later Monday.
The cause of the fire is unknown, officials said, and its “scale and consequences could have a direct impact on the population”.
A doctor and local residents told AFP that dozens of people were injured.
“Dozens of injured people are arriving at two of Conakry’s main hospitals, Ignace Deen and Donka,” said Mamadouba Sylla, a surgeon at Donka hospital.
Service stations will remain closed, the government said, and “in the coming hours, a progress report will be issued and an investigation will be launched to establish the cause and those responsible.”
“Kaloum is burning. The port area is completely barricaded by the police, and firefighters are rushing towards the (site) of the disaster,” local resident Thierno Diallo told AFP by telephone.
“The power is completely cut off in the area,” Diallo, who identified himself as a customs officer, said.
