At least 99 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the capital of Sierra Leone late on Friday when a fuel tanker exploded following a collision, local authorities said.

Fuel still appeared to be leaking from the wrecked tanker on Saturday morning as police and soldiers tried to clear large crowds of onlookers from the street, according to a Reuters reporter. A burnt human body and the blackened shells of several cars and motorbikes dotted the road in the eastern Freetown suburb of Wellington, where hundreds had gathered.

The manager of the central state morgue in Freetown said it had received 91 bodies following the blast. More than 100 casualties have been admitted to hospitals and clinics across the capital, deputy health minister Amara Jambai told Reuters.

The country’s vice-president said earlier on Saturday that at least 92 people were killed in the massive explosion.

“We have received a report this morning that 92 people have died,” Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh said from the scene in an official confirmation of the toll, adding that 88 more were in hospital being treated for severe burns.

“We’ve got so many casualties, burnt corpses,” said Brima Bureh Sesay, head of the national disaster management agency, in a video from the scene shared online. “It’s a terrible, terrible accident.”

Videos shared online shortly after the explosion showed people running through clouds of thick smoke as large fires lit up the night sky. Reuters was not able immediately to verify the images.

According to witnesses, the blast happened when a vehicle caught fire at a petrol station after a road accident. The flames then spread, burning people in cars and on roads nearby.

The majority of the victims were street vendors and motorcyclists, many of whom were caught in the blaze while trying to retrieve fuel, according to volunteer worker Jusu Jacka Yorma who was at the scene.

Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday morning, many searching for missing relatives under the eye of security forces.

Video footage showed a burnt-out tanker and a truck, and the surrounding area littered with husks of vehicles, some still smouldering.

“Deeply disturbed by the tragic fires and the horrendous loss of life,” President Julius Maada Bio wrote on Twitter.

“My profound sympathies with families who have lost loved ones and those who have been maimed as a result. My government will do everything to support affected families.”