Dozens of people remain in hospital with serious burns and the death toll could rise, said Francis Kateh, head of the Lower Bong county health department.
Scene of the tanker explosion. Photo: AFP
Specifically, the accident occurred late Tuesday (December 26) when a fuel tanker had an accident in Lower Bong County (about 130 km from Liberia's capital Monrovia) and then overturned, causing gasoline to spill out.
According to police, after the tanker truck overturned, some local residents began gathering at the scene to collect the leaked gasoline. At this time, the truck suddenly exploded, causing many casualties at the scene.
Witness Aaron Massaquoi from Totota recounted that at that time, many people even climbed on the roof of the truck to get gas, while some people used hard objects to hit the gas tank to break it open and get the gas.
"A lot of people gathered around the truck and the truck driver told them they could get the fuel that was spilling out," Massaquoi said, adding that the driver asked people not to climb on the tanker and bang on the tank, but some even used screwdrivers to punch holes in the tank.
Poor infrastructure and unsafe road systems have made sub-Saharan Africa the world's deadliest region, with a fatality rate three times higher than the European average, according to United Nations figures.
Ngoc Anh (according to AFP, Reuters)
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