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.
A driver was injured after his truck plunged from the Pen Cinema Bridge in the…
Crystal Palace reached the FA Cup final for the first time in nine years as…
Ipswich were relegated from the Premier League after a 3-0 defeat against Newcastle at St…
Pope Francis was laid to rest at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on Saturday,…
United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Rome for the funeral…
The Kaduna State Government will convene an education summit as part of its strategy to…
This website uses cookies.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="250px" width="250px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
