Liberia Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Francis Keteh says the death toll from the Totota Tanker’s explosion has risen to 40, leaving more than 80 seriously injured.
The devastating incident happened on Tuesday evening when a gas-distributing Tanker carrying 9,000 gallons of gas to Gbarnga, missed the road and fell off around a Church facility in the lower Bong County populated town.
Following the accident, hundreds of residents to advantage of the situation and started to fill their empty containers with gas when they observed leakages from the tanker.
Social media footage shows some residents climbing over the tanker to collect some of the gas just before the tanker exploded.
Speaking during a visit to the Phebe Hospital, Dr. Keteh told the media that more than 80 victims were taken to the Phebe Hospital, and some were transferred to JFK, the 14 Military hospital amongst others.
He said a contact tracing report has so far shown that 40 people are not accounted for from the incident.
“We decided to send men from house to house to do contact tracing. It is sad to tell you that about 40 people have died. Some brunt to aches, some burnt to their bones” he said.
Dr. Keteh has described the situation as “a National Emergency” saying that it is also a lesson to learn to avoid future loss.
He has reaffirmed the commitment of Liberia’s health system to providing quality health care to those injured.