(CNN) At least 98 people died on Friday after a fuel tanker exploded in a suburb of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, according to authorities in the West African country. Mohamed Lamrane Bah, director of communications for Sierra Leone's National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), told CNN that several people were also in critical condition following the explosion. Dozens of people were killed in the explosion, according to authorities in the West African country. The explosion occurred after two vehicles collided on the highway while the fuel tanker was about to enter a nearby filling station to discharge its fuel, the NDMA said in a statement posted to Facebook on Saturday afternoon. It added that while that was happening, "some community members rushed to the scene and took advantage of the leakage to scoop fuel and store it in nearby makeshift structures."

Source: CNN November 07, 2021 06:40 UTC