Senegal leader sends support after fire at Muslim event

By Alpha Kamara

DAKAR, Senegal (AA) - Senegal’s president has commiserated with the relatives of 25 people who perished when a fire broke out a Muslim festival late on Wednesday.

Twenty-eight other people were seriously injured in the blaze at Medina Gounass in southern Senegal.

The injured are being treated at a regional hospital in Tambacouda, 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the capital, Dakar.

President Macky Sall took to social media on Thursday to say: “It is with great emotion that I send my condolences to the relatives of the victims of the fire yesterday at the Daaka de Medina Gounass.”

Ibrahima Dione, head of nursing at Tambacounda Regional Hospital, told local media APS that the 25th person had died at 1 p.m. local time (1300GMT).

Senegal’s Minister of Internal Security Daouda Diallo and other government officials visited the hospital where the injured are being treated and extended condolences on behalf of the government, a source told Anadolu Agency.

The government delegation handed over 10 million CFA francs ($16,200) to the hospital authorities for emergency support, the source added.

Wednesday’s fire occurred during the Daaka festival where thousands of Muslims were gathered at a spiritual retreat site for an all-night prayer session.

The cause of the fire is still unknown but eyewitnesses said it might be connected with smoking in the village where most of the houses are thatched on a hot and windy evening.