No fewer than 35 people were killed in Benin Republic on Saturday after a fire broke out at a shop where witnesses said gasoline was being unloaded.
The inferno broke out at about 9 p.m. in Seme-Podji municipality, near the border with Nigeria.
“The fire burned down the store and according to an initial assessment resulted in 35 deaths including one child,” Prosecutor Abdoubaki Adam-Bongle said in a statement, adding that an investigation had been opened to determine the cause.
READ ALSO: Sunday Igboho released from Benin detention, restricted to Cotonou
“According to the witnesses interviewed, the fire was probably started during the unloading of bags of gasoline,” Adam-Bongle said.
According to Reuters, more than a dozen others were seriously injured and are being treated in hospital.
A video shared widely on social media, purportedly of the fire, showed a tower of black smoke and flames spewing into the air above what appears to be a marketplace as shocked people watch from a safe distance.
- EFCC deploys officers against voters’ inducement in Edo election - September 20, 2024
- Kaduna varsity awards scholarship to 107 students - September 20, 2024
- 2 women arrested for selling newborn twins in Lagos - September 20, 2024
