Tanzania mourns 69 people killed in oil tanker explosion

Morogoro, Tanzania,

Tanzania was mourning Sunday, preparing to bury 69 people who died when a refueling exploded as the crowd rushed to siphon leaking gasoline.

President John Magufuli said Monday a period of mourning following the deadly explosion near the town of Morogoro, west of Dar es Salaam.

He will be represented at the funeral by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, an official statement said.

"We are currently mourning the loss of 69 people, the last of whom died while being transferred by helicopter to Dar es Salaam National Hospital," Majaliwa told residents during their statements on Tanzanian television.

The number of wounded was 66, he said.


The funeral will begin Sunday afternoon, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Jenista Mhagama said in the morning after her relatives identified the dead.

BURIALES

"Preparations for burials are over, individual graves have been dug and coffins are ready," said Mhagama, adding that experts would be available to provide psychological counseling services to relatives of the victims.

DNA tests would be done on bodies that were no longer recognizable, said Mhagama, adding that families could recover the remains of their relatives and organize their own burials if they preferred.

In the latest of a series of similar disasters in Africa, 39 critically injured patients were taken to the Dar es Salaam hospital and 17 more are being treated in Morogoro, 200 kilometers west of the economic capital of Dar es Salaam. Tanzania.

FLAMES

The images of the scene showed the truck engulfed by flames and huge clouds of black smoke, with charred bodies. The charred remains of motorcycle taxis are scattered on the ground, among burnt trees.

A video posted on social media showed dozens of people carrying yellow jerricans around the truck.



"We arrived at the scene with two neighbors just after the truck overturned, while some good Samaritans were trying to get the driver and the other two out of the truck, others were jostling, equipped with jerry cans, to fetch the essence, "Professor Jan Michael told AFP.

"At the same time, someone was trying to remove the battery from the vehicle, we had warned that the truck could explode at any time but no one wanted to listen to it, so we continued our way, but we had barely turned our heels when we heard the explosion. "

FLYING FUEL

President Magufuli on Saturday called on the people to end the dangerous practice of stealing fuel of this kind, a common occurrence in many poor parts of Africa.

He issued a statement in which he said he was "very shocked" by the looting of fuel from damaged vehicles.

"There are vehicles that carry dangerous fuel oil, as in this case in Morogoro, there are others that carry toxic chemicals or explosives, let's stop this practice, please," Magufuli said. .

Last month, 45 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in central Nigeria when an oil tanker crashed and exploded as people tried to get gas.

Among the deadliest disasters of this type, 292 people lost their lives in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2010, and in September 2015 at least 203 people died in the southern city of Maridi. -Sudan.