Red Cross Society of Seychelles assists over 500 people following major explosion

The Red Cross has also been assessing the needs of those affected by the blast as well as the flooding. (Alisa Uzice, Seychelles News Agency)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Red Cross Society of Seychelles (RCSS) has assisted around 500 people who were affected after an explosion in a storage area for explosives at a quarrying company in the Providence Industrial area and flooding and landslide from heavy rainfall in northern Mahe on Thursday.

The RCSS, whose secretariat is also based at the Providence Industrial Area is looking for a temporary base of operations.

Its offices and warehouse located in Zone 18 in the area were severely damaged by the blast.

The communication and resource mobilisation officer of RCSS, Bettina Azemia,  told SNA on Monday that the headquarters are currently not operational.

The Red Cross team, which comprises seven employees and around 150 volunteers, is using tents to keep their operation going. (Alisa Uzice, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

"We have been operating in tents outside of the headquarters since the blast occurred. At least four offices have been badly impacted. There are no windows in the office and rooms at the back along with broken windows in all other offices and rooms," said Azemia.

She added that "the blast also damaged the ceiling which in turn has affected the air conditioning. At the moment only the warehouse is functioning but it has also been hit, the shutter doors are bent."

Azemia talked about the day of the incident stating that at the time they were on standby due to the heavy rainfall in the North and were not prepared for the explosion.

"Once the blast occurred, we greatly needed our first aid kits to assist those impacted in Providence but was unable to do so because the room where all the kits are stored had been affected and we could not access it," she said.

Currently, the Red Cross team, which comprises seven employees and around 150 volunteers, is using tents to keep their operation going.

Even though they were severely set back by the explosion, they were present on site since the explosion and helping those in need.

Its offices and warehouse located in Zone 18 in the area were severely damaged by the blast. (Alisa Uzice, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

"Regardless of the situation, we mobilised what we had in the ambulance and other RCSS transport. Once we returned to the office at around six in the morning on Thursday, we quickly set up tents to work under. Thankfully the warehouse was still intact so we could access the goods safely and have been doing so until now," she explained.

The Red Cross has also been assessing the needs of those affected by the blast as well as the flooding.

"We have conducted over 50 assessments and have also had teams mobilised to shelters whereby we have conducted needs assessments as well as psychological support. At the moment we cannot give an exact total but we can say that we have identified over 200 people who need some form of assistance," said Azemia.

"Taking into account both incidents; the flooding and the explosion, we can estimate that we have assisted over 500 people and we have continued to do so since Thursday. We have assisted in various ways such as first aid, psychological support, triage shelter management as well as assisting with the delivering of goods," she added.

Azemia said that the RCSS will remain active in the meantime while waiting for a temporary base so they can continue their work.