Over 40 people are feared burnt to death when a building in the Waterside commercial district in central Monrovia was destroyed by an inferno, local authorities said.
The casualties include members of a Lebanese family and looters who had gathered in the building on the pretext of helping to fight the fire that broke out on Wednesday night.
The building, owned by the famous Fouani Brothers and estimated to be more 50 years old, collapsed on the victims.
Capt. Augustine Kolubah of Liberia's National Fire Service said two firefighters were among those who died and that five bodies had been recovered.
He said two others from the Liberia Petroleum Refining Corporation had narrowly escaped death and that five bodies have so far been recovered in the debris.
Armed officers of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and the Liberia National Police have been deployed to the area to assist in the search for more bodies.
Witnesses said some of the casualties included looters who entered the building on the pretext of fighting the fire. The 50-year-old building collapsed during the fire.
The cause of the fire wasn't identified.
Thursday 25 April 2013
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/40-killed-in-Liberia-fire-outbreak/-/1066/1758208/-/vaoafy/-/index.html
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