The toll from the fire that erupted in the Conakry port following the explosion at the main fuel depot on December 18 remains at eighteen casualties. In tribute to the victims, the transitional leader declared three days of national mourning on Wednesday evening.
Following the fire at the country’s main fuel depot in Conakry, which claimed the lives of 18 people on the night of Sunday to Monday, the transitional president, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, announced three days of national mourning on Wednesday.
“Faced with this painful ordeal, I declare three days of national mourning starting Thursday,” he stated during a televised address to the Guinean nation.
“No Additional Cost”
Addressing concerns among Guineans about fuel shortages, the government seeks to reassure the public regarding fuel stocks. According to authorities, the country can rely on the available diesel stock, as five tanks from the large Coronthie depot were unaffected. There would also be sufficient fuel, according to the government spokesperson, to ensure that freight transport and industry are not affected by the fire.
The Coronthie depot has a capacity of 63 million liters of diesel and 20 million liters of heavy fuel. The immediate priority is, therefore, the supply of gasoline. The country is negotiating with neighboring countries such as Ivory Coast to replenish the Kankan region and Sierra Leone for the capital, Conakry.
Regarding concerns about a potential and logical surge in prices following the losses incurred by the fire, the government is keen to reassure the public. “There will be no additional cost,” they emphasize.