Many feared feared as broken down fuel tanker explodes while residents scooped fuel from it (video)

No fewer than forty persons are feared dead when a tanker truck exploded after it broke down in central Liberia. 

The petrol tanker crashed and tipped into a ditch along a road in Totota, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) from the capital Monrovia.

Videos shared online showed residents of the community scooping fuel from the tanker before it exploded. The country’s chief medical officer, Dr Francis Kateh who confirmed the incident to newsmen, said it was difficult to determine the number of victims because some had been reduced to ashes but he estimated that more than 40 people were killed in the incident.

Police earlier put the death toll at 15 and said at least 30 people were injured as locals gathered at the scene.

“There were lots of people that got burned,” said Prince B. Mulbah, deputy inspector general for the Liberia National Police.

Watch a video from the scene below…