Lisbon, Feb. 16, 2026 (Lusa) - The prime minister of the transitional government in Guinea-Bissau, Ilídio Vieira Té, today ordered the immediate closure of container fuel stations, following a fire in Bafatá that left 163 people injured, one of whom died.

This common practice in Guinea-Bissau is now banned throughout the country, Vieira Té added, on the sidelines of a visit to Simão Mendes National Hospital in Bissau, where 19 people were transferred with burns following an explosion and fire on Saturday at a container selling diesel and petrol in Bafatá, in the east of the country.

Speaking to journalists and reported by local media, Vieira Té lamented that one of the victims transferred to Bissau had died and said that ‘there will be accountability’ for the accident in Bafatá.

In the fire, 163 people suffered burns, and 28 are currently still receiving medical treatment at the regional hospital in Bafatá.

‘We announce today that we will close all [fuel] containers within the city [of Bissau], and in the regions (...) they will be closed and removed,’ said Ilídio Vieira Té, addressing the Minister of Territorial Administration and Local Power.

The prime minister said he would convey the same instruction to the Minister of the Interior, General Mamasaliu Embaló.

Ilídio Vieira Té is due to travel to Bafatá on Tuesday to visit the victims being treated at the local hospital.

The Minister of Territorial Administration and Local Government, Carlos Nelson Sano, who travelled to Bafatá on Sunday, accompanied by the Minister of the Interior, noted that the fire, which followed the explosion, was exacerbated by the intervention of local people who, out of ignorance, tried to extinguish the fire with water and sand.

‘This caused the flames to increase,’ said Nelson Sano.

*** The Lusa news agency's delegation in Guinea-Bissau has been suspended since August 2025, following the government's expulsion of Portuguese media representatives. Coverage is being provided remotely *** HFI/ADB // ADB.

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