{"id":420807,"date":"2023-09-24T09:06:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T06:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/?p=420807"},"modified":"2023-09-24T09:07:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T06:07:20","slug":"at-least-35-people-killed-in-benin-after-fuel-depot-explodes-into-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/at-least-35-people-killed-in-benin-after-fuel-depot-explodes-into-flames\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 35 people killed in Benin after fuel depot explodes into flames"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At least 35 people have been killed in Benin after a fuel depot exploded into flames, sending a black cloud of smoke into the sky, according to officials and witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>The fire broke out on Saturday at a warehouse for smuggled fuel in the town of Seme-Podji near the border with Nigeria, where cars, motorbikes and tricycle taxis came to stock up on fuel, residents said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fire burned down the store and according to an initial assessment resulted in 35 deaths including one child,\u201d Prosecutor Abdoubaki Adam-Bongle in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to the witnesses interviewed, the fire was probably started during the unloading of bags of gasoline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than a dozen others were seriously injured and are being treated in hospital, he said.<\/p>\n<p>A video of the fire widely circulated on social media, verified by Al Jazeera, shows 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.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1705601747731853467&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aljazeera.com%2Fnews%2F2023%2F9%2F24%2Fdozens-killed-after-benin-fuel-depot-explodes-into-flames&amp;sessionId=72cc09e09c3e5824c55323d4a029a3681ad072fe&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=aaf4084522e3a%3A1674595607486&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1705601747731853467\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><em>Translation: A fire broke out on Saturday at an illegal fuel depot in Benin\u2019s Seme-Krake. Initial reports indicate at least 33 deaths.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Benin\u2019s Interior Minister Alassane Seidou said the \u201ccause of the fire is smuggled fuel\u201d. He said the blaze left the bodies of the victims \u201cbadly charred\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"container--ads in-article-ads\">\n<div class=\"ads\">\n<div class=\"ads__slot\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-333326556239\" class=\"freestar-ads\" data-google-query-id=\"CNzQ-8bJwoEDFdij_QcdXcwMYQ\">\n<p>Fuel smuggling is common along Benin\u2019s border with Nigeria, a major oil producer. Illegal refineries, fuel dumps and pipelines have sprung up in border towns, sometimes causing fires.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI live not far from the tragedy,\u201d Semevo Nounagnon, a local bike driver, told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t really give you the cause of the fire, but there is a large gasoline warehouse here and cars, tricycles and motorcycles come from morning to evening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others expressed shock at the incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe heard people screaming for help. But the intensity of the flames was too much for people to try to approach,\u201d said Innocent Sidokpohou, a local carpenter.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Source: Al Jazeera<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least 35 people have been killed in Benin after a fuel depot exploded into flames, sending a black cloud of smoke into the sky, according to officials and witnesses. The fire broke out on Saturday at a warehouse for smuggled fuel in the town of Seme-Podji near the border with Nigeria, where cars, motorbikes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":420808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-420807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420807"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":420811,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420807\/revisions\/420811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonna.so\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}