Following the recent explosion, at Wellington, east of the capital, that claimed the lives of hundreds of Sierra Leoneans, the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), National Fire Force (NFF), National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and the Sierra Leone Police have on Friday, 12th November, 2021 briefed the Oversight Committee for Internal Affairs in Parliament about what happened.

Briefing Members of Parliament at Committee Room No 1 in Parliament, officials from the NDMA explained how scores of lives and properties were destroyed by the inferno. The officials furthered that people were trapped in the fire, but that the agency is doing its best in ensuring that those hospitalized are taken good care of, adding that the agency is currently receiving donations from various organizations. The officials assured MPs that the agency will use the donations judiciously and as such they have decided to deposit all monies into the disaster management fund, so as to ensure they give account of every cent given to the affected people.

On their part, officials from SLRSA explained that the two vehicles that collided were newly registered one and could not tell what went wrong. Management also vowed embarking on operations free flow in order to clear the streets and has already stipulated 10 pm for the movement of all fuel tankers and that no fuel tanker should be seen plying the streets prior to 10 pm.

According to The Exclusive News, officials from NFF said that they tried their best with the little resources they had to extinguish the fire, using the foam chemical solution. They however expressed concern that fighting the fire has left them with no foam chemical solution, stressing that had it not been for their swift intervention, the other stations would have been consumed by the inferno.

SLP, on their part, stated that they were able to barricade the entire place which, according to them, helped greatly to reduce the facilities.

In response, the MPs urged the fuel dealers to help support the NFF by providing them either fire engines or support them financially.