CONAKRY, Guinea
The explosion and fire at Guinea's main fuel depot that killed 24 people and injured 454 has been "completely extinguished" nine days after it started, the government said in a statement.
The fire had already been
brought under control, but not fully put out.
"Operations to cool all
the petrol installations are continuing" and "the accident zone
remains closed to permit an investigation," it said.
Of the 24 dead, 11 have yet to
be identified. Among the injured, 31 are still being treated in hospital and
423 have been discharged.
Air quality has improved, the
government said, but wearing a mask is still recommended.
Fuel distribution resumed
Saturday with limits of 25 litres per car and 5 litres per two- or three-wheel
vehicles. Filling jerrycans is banned.
Tanker trucks are no longer
being escorted by police.
According to a preliminary
count, about 800 buildings have been damaged, most of them within a radius of
500 metres around the incident.
The government has already
handed out 460 survival kits, with the intention to eventually distribute them
to 2,141 affected households, the statement said.
In total, about 11,000 people
were directly affected by the fire.
Meanwhile, Ivory Coast has
pledged to deliver 50 million litres of petrol a month to Guinea, Ivorian state
media announced Wednesday.
"Ivory Coast has
undertaken to deliver 50 million litres of petrol per month to Guinea,"
said a journalist from Radio Television Ivoirienne (RTI), without specifying
the duration of shipments.
Guinea's Finance Minister
Moussa Cisse met with Ivorian Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy Mamadou
Sangafowa Coulibaly in Abidjan on Wednesday.
A contract will be signed Thursday, RTI reported, adding that Guinea needed 70 million litres of petrol a month.
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