Guinea oil depot fire put out after nine days as Ivory Coast pledges support

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.