At least 18 people were killed and many injured Thursday in a blast triggered by a gas leak in a residential building in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, witnesses and medical sources said.
Eighteen people died and dozens of others in the district, including Nigerian and Lebanese traders with stores nearby, were injured in the blast, some very seriously, according to hospital sources. Witnesses said the explosion happened when firemen were setting up their equipment at the scene after being called by one of the residents of the building because of a fire. Deputy fire chief Ahmad Kamara-Bongay said the violence of the explosion was probably due to a gas leak after the fire broke out.