AFP
Tue, December 19, 2023
Foreign rescue and aid workers, along with the UN and volunteers, rallied Tuesday to help victims of the explosion and fire at Guinea's main oil depot on Monday that killed 18 people, injured 212 others and prompted concerns about fuel supplies.
Volunteers collected food donations for those in need after the blast at the state oil company's main depot in the Kaloum district of the capital, Conakry, near the port.
The explosion, whose cause is still unknown, wreaked damage to buildings over a radius of more than one kilometre (0.6 miles).
Windows were shattered in several buildings in the port area, including a modern district which is home to banks and insurance companies.
"Despite the efforts by medical teams, we lament four new deaths today, bringing the total to 18," the government said in a statement.
"Of the 212 people treated by health workers, 127 have returned to their homes and 85 people are still hospitalised, including four in intensive care," it said.
Dozens of people came forward to help in whatever way they could.
Accountant and business manager Mariame Diallo said she was going around shops collecting donations and taking them to a drop-off point at a mosque.
"We are in the process of collecting everything that goodwill brings us," said Abdouramane Sylla, another volunteer.
"We have a vehicle loaned by the city hall to transport this material."
International help was also on hand.
A 24-member team of Senegalese rescuers, including 15 military doctors and eight firefighting specialists, arrived late Monday, Senegal's defence ministry said, adding that further teams would follow.
A French assistance and support team is on ground in the country, France's foreign ministry said on social media.
And the United Nations said in a statement it was providing tents, water tanks, mobile toilets, medicines and other essential supplies.
- Anxious residents -
After authorities urged people to stay home Monday, some workers headed out on Tuesday, but others feared another explosion.
The fire was brought under control on Monday, authorities said, but smoke continued to billow from the disaster site as firefighters continued to work Tuesday.
"I'm waiting to see how the day is going to go before going over there, because my office is a few minutes from the port and from the fuel depot centre," Lamine Diallo said.
In central Conakry, offices, banks and insurance offices remained closed, and the district around the port is deserted after residents fled.
Service stations are temporarily closed across the country over concerns of fuel shortages, and many people avoided taking their cars, though the government said Tuesday that fuel supplies had resumed across the nation.
The government "wants us to believe that there will not be a fuel shortage, which I doubt," lorry driver Souleymane Traore said.
The government said it was carrying out an assessment of fuel needs and supplies.
The fire was brought under control Monday afternoon but smoke was still rising from the site. Soldiers were preventing traffic entering the area.
A legal investigation has been opened to establish the cause and responsibilities of the incident.
Guinea has been ruled since September 2021 when a junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya overthrew civilian president Alpha Conde.
Doumbouya has promised to hold elections and restore civilian rule by January 2026
bm-amt/kjm/js
Fuel shortages grip Conakry after deadly oil storage blast
Updated Tue, December 19, 2023
Firemen work to extinguish fire after a blast at an oil terminal in Conakry
By Saliou Samb
CONAKRY (Reuters) -Guineans should brace for power cuts, the government has warned, as the country grapples with the aftermath of a deadly explosion at an oil terminal in the capital Conakry that destroyed fuel tanks and forced hundreds to flee damaged homes.
Fourteen people were killed and 190 injured in the blast at the West African nation's main oil terminal, which rocked the Kaloum district in downtown Conakry in the early hours of Monday.
The government said 13 fuel storage tanks were out of service while five tanks were unaffected.
"The government informs the population that due to the destroyed fuel stocks, the electricity supply may potentially be affected by outages," it said late on Monday, adding that the fire was under control.
Most of Guinea's power plants, particularly those supplying the capital, run on diesel fuel.
On Tuesday, a tall column of black smoke still billowed into the sky above the terminal and hours-long lines of cars and motorbikes formed at gas stations and clogged the streets of Conakry. The government had earlier ordered many to close to curb panic-buying.
"I've been here since 9 a.m. I thought I would get some fuel but I'm stuck here. They're telling me fuel is out," said driver Mohamed Cisse, sitting in his car.
The black market price of petrol has jumped 150% to 30,000 Guinean francs ($3.50) per litre compared with the pump price of 12,000 CFA francs, a Reuters reporter said.
The extent of the fallout from the blast is not yet clear or whether mining operations will be affected in the world's second-largest producer of bauxite. Guinea is not an oil producer and relies on imports of refined products, which are mostly stored in the Kaloum terminal and distributed via trucks across the country.
Residents of districts near the depot described their panic when the shockwave ripped through the air, shattering windows in the middle of the night.
"We saw something in the sky, and suddenly a huge explosion that released unbearable heat. I immediately ran to avoid being hit by the objects zipping in all directions," said security guard Sekou Sall in his neighbourhood, where some houses were reduced to rubble.
Sall said he had seen someone he knew weeping over the body of their twin brother, who was killed in the street by the flying debris.
Fear of further blasts or the risk of remaining in damaged buildings drove hundreds of people to seek safety elsewhere in the city.
Some cautiously returned on Monday afternoon to survey the damage and salvage some belongings.
Clutching a toddler with a bandaged head, grandmother Mariama Soumah said her family only had time to save themselves when their small house started to collapse around them when the blast hit.
"Suddenly we heard a loud explosion. If we hadn't left in time, we would have died," she said in Coronthie district, one of the capital's poorest and worst-affected by the explosion.
($1 = 596.2500 CFA francs)
(Additional reporting by Souleymane CamaraWriting by Anait Miridzhanian and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison Williams, Alex Richardson and David Evans)
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