Guinea Oil Depot Fire Put Out After Nine Days

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 27 2023

This image grab taken from AFPTV video footage on December 18, 2023 shows people near the explosion site at Conakry's main fuel depot. PHOTO | AFP

By AFP

The explosion and fire at Guinea's main fuel depot that killed 24 people and injured 454 has been "completely extinguished" nine days after it started, the government said in a statement to AFP.

The fire had already been brought under control, but not fully put out.

"Operations to cool all the petrol installations are continuing" and "the accident zone remains closed to permit an investigation," it said. 

Of the 24 dead, 11 have yet to be identified. Among the injured, 31 are still being treated in hospital and 423 have been discharged.

Air quality has improved, the government said, but wearing a mask is still recommended.

Fuel distribution resumed Saturday with limits of 25 litres per car and 5 litres per two- or three-wheel vehicles. Filling jerrycans is banned. 

Tanker trucks are no longer being escorted by police.  

According to a preliminary count, about 800 buildings have been damaged, most of them within a radius of 500 metres around the incident.

The government has already handed out 460 survival kits, with the intention to eventually distribute them to 2,141 affected households, the statement said.

In total, about 11,000 people were directly affected by the fire.