Senegal Declares Three Days of Mourning as Death Toll in Religious Festival Fire Rises
The government has announced three days of mourning for the victims of a massive fire that killed 25 people attending a Muslim spiritual retreat in southeastern Senegal. The conflagration tore through makeshift straw shelters erected for the pilgrims belonging to the Tijaniyya Muslim group.
The police suspect a gas canister exploded as the pilgrims prepared tea at the retreat site on Wednesday afternoon.
"The fire burned through everything in its path. Only the modern tents reserved for the marabouts (religious leaders) were relatively spared from the fury of the flames," resident Aziz Thierno Belly Ba said.
A couple of dozens were killed while the number of injured was placed at more than a hundred. Some of them suffered from burns while others were hurt in the stampede. Around 20 of them are in serious condition and had to be taken to Tambacounda city, about 80 kilometers away, for medical attention as local hospitals lacked supplies to treat burns.
The aftermath revealed the severity of the fire as seen from the charred animal corpses as well as burnt-out cars and buildings. The open air was packed with people and many of them were weighed down by luggage and food. Also among the victims were citizens of Gambia and Mauritius, it was learned.
President Macky Sall inspected the site on Friday, and said, "Taking account of the number of victims, as this morning another has passed away, we now have 25 dead and I have decided to announce today three days of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast."
Around 95 percent of Senegal's population is Muslim, according to The New York Times. Every year, members of the powerful Tijaniyya Muslim brotherhood gather in the thousands for a nine-day Daaka festival near the town of Médina Gounas in the southeastern region of Tambacounda.
Sall had suggested fireproofing the site five years ago following a similar fire in 2010 that killed six people and injured several others. But officials of Médina Gounas, which is an autonomous community ruled by Islamic law, rejected the suggestion, saying that any changes to the structures on festival grounds would destroy the spiritual significance.
