The death toll from a fuel tanker explosion in Sierra Leone's capital on Nov. 5 has risen to 144 from a previous estimate of 115, health ministry data showed on Saturday. 

The tanker exploded following a collision in a suburb of Freetown. Victims included people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle.   

Fifty-seven people are still being treated in hospital of whom 11 remain in a critical condition, the ministry said. 

On November 5, 2021, a fuel tanker exploded following a collision in the capital of Sierra Leone, local authorities said. The officials then reported at least 99 death and more than 100 injured. 

The wounded were treated in hospitals and clinics across the capital, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told Reuters. 

Victims included people who had flocked to collect fuel leaking from the ruptured vehicle, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, mayor of the port city, said in a post on Facebook, although that post was later edited to remove the reference. 

"We've got so many casualties, burnt corpses," said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the National Disaster Management Agency, in a video from the scene shared online. "It's a terrible, terrible accident."