Susan’s Bay, a seaside slum community in Freetown, has once again experienced an inferno. It started on the evening of Wednesday, March 24 and this time, the event was as terrible as it was abrupt.
About 7,000 ex-residents of a slum in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, destroyed by fire last week, require emergency assistance, the country’s disaster management agency has announced.
The agency head Sinneh Mansaray says they need help to provide shelter, food, water and clothing to the victims of the disaster.
The authorities have not recorded any deaths but 409 people were injured and 7,093 people were affected by the disaster.
The European Union, the United States and the UN have indicated readiness to aid the victims.
The recent fire caused multiple injuries and mass disruption of livelihoods, houses and properties, displacing hundreds of people.
Although the National Disaster Management Agency could not give a clear estimate of the extent of the damage, residents reported that the fire may have destroyed over 200 houses and rendered more than 1,000 residents homeless.
Sinneh Mansaray, notes that almost three-quarters, 73% of disaster victims sleep outside, while 16% stay with host families and 5% in their homes. According to the disaster management agency.The government has pitched 53 tents and is currently providing water to about 5,000 people.
