Follow Us on Google
No fewer than 35 people were killed in the southeastern part of the Republic of Benin at the weekend, after a fire broke out at a shop where witnesses said gasoline was being unloaded, a justice ministry representative said.
The fire broke out at 0930 local time in Seme-Podji municipality, near the border with Nigeria. Reports said the petrol was smuggled from Nigeria.
“The fire burned down the store and, according to an initial assessment, resulted in 35 deaths, including one child,” said Prosecutor Abdoubaki Adam-Bongle in a ministry statement, adding that an investigation had been opened to determine the cause.
“According to the witnesses interviewed, the fire probably started during the unloading of bags of gasoline. More than a dozen others were seriously injured and are being treated in hospital, he said.
A video shared widely on social media, purportedly of the fire, shows a tower of black smoke and flames spewing into the air above what appears to be a market place as shocked people watched from a safe distance.
