Shawdesh desk:

The death toll from a fuel tanker explosion in Sierra Leone’s capital on 5 November 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.

A former British colony of 7.5 million people, Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite mineral wealth that includes diamonds.

Its economy is still struggling with the aftermath of a 1991-2002 civil war that left 120,000 dead and the impact of a Ebola epidemic that struck three West African countries from 2013-16, followed in 2020 by Covid-19.