A massive explosion occurred in Conakry after midnight on Monday, producing huge, fiery flames over the Guinean capital's autonomous port. There are many injured.
Published on: 12/18/2023 – 04:35
1 minute
With our correspondent in Conakry, Matthias Raynal
In the courtyard of Donka Hospital, one of Conakry's two university hospitals, there has been an incessant ballet of ambulances for the past hour. An exact assessment cannot be made at the moment, but the explosion that night left dozens injured.
A pickup truck marked with a red cross drove through the yard. In the dumpster, a bloodied man screamed in pain. Among the streams of people who rushed onto the streets to leave Kaloum, there were also many slightly injured people.
We were sleeping when suddenly the houses were damaged. Everyone comes and goes trying to save themselves.
Statement from Ousmane Barry, a resident of the neighborhood
Matthias Raynal
The explosion rattled the windows of downtown Conakry, where the ministries and presidential office are located. In Coronthie, closest to the explosion, at the entrance to the peninsula, residents described apocalyptic scenes. Roofs were torn away by the explosion. Houses would have collapsed.
Exodus
An exodus occurs on the Fidel Castro highway at 1 a.m. Hundreds of people evacuate the area on foot, in the middle of the highway. A woman is carried by a teenager. Further away there is a man whose foot is bleeding profusely.
Access to Kaloum is filtered by the military, allowing only ambulances and officials through. Guineans who have loved ones in Coronthie must be patient.
And beyond these dams, hundreds of people in the distance watch the fire ignite the sky. The Coronthie district is known for being home to the only fuel depot in the country. The APT, the African Petroleum Terminal. Residents have been demanding an installation outside the city for years.