A harbour in Conakry, Guinea. Credit: viti via Getty images.

A deadly oil terminal blast in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, killed eight people and injured more than 84 early Monday. A senior police officer confirmed the blast and said the blaze was being controlled.

According to a Reuters witness, the explosion at the country’s main oil terminal blew out the windows of several homes around the area, forcing hundreds of people to flee. 

A video of the explosion, shared by Jordan Garcia, US state California’s consul of Guinea, showed a massive fire in the Kaloum administrative district from miles away. 

Reuters reported that several tanker trucks left the oil depot while firefighters rushed to the area. The origin of the blast remains unidentified, but the Government of Guinea will soon launch an investigation. 

The government statement said it would issue a progress report soon and “an investigation will be launched to establish the causes and responsibilities”, while the service stations will remain closed. 

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It also urged private and public sector workers to stay home and announced a temporary shutdown of schools in the city. The officials said the explosion’s “scale and consequences could have a direct impact on the population”, Al Jazeera reported. 

The damage to the terminal is unclear at present. As Guinea cannot refine oil and produces no significant amount of oil, the explosion’s impact on the country’s oil status is undetermined. It imports refined commodities, primarily transported throughout the country by trucks and stored at the Kaloum terminal.