A Mozambique fuel tanker explosion Thursday afternoon killed at least 56 people and injured more than 100.
The number of people killed was revised by Mozambique officials on Friday from 73 to 56, but the BBC News added that the lower figure may be the result of bodies that have been recovered so far. Officials added that 108 were injured in the incident.
It was unclear what caused the explosion that happened in the village of Caphirizanje in Tete province, near the Malawi border, according to the BBC News. Reuters reported that some were attempting to siphon fuel from an overturned truck when it exploded, according to the Mozambique government.
The government said the truck was transporting fuel from the port city of Beira to Malawi when the accident happened, according to Reuters. A government team was expected to arrive in the area, located some 1,242 miles from the capital Maputo, on Friday to investigate.
"(The government) deplores the loss of life... and is currently providing the necessary assistance in order to save lives and to comfort the victims' families," said a Mozambique government statement, according to the BBC News.
An emergency cabinet meeting was scheduled by President Filipe Nyusi on Friday morning as the government declared three days of national mourning.
Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal in 1975 but was torn apart by civil war that ended formally in 1992, according to Britannica.com. The divide between the country's Marxist government, supported the then Soviet Union and Cuba, and the anti-communist forced aided by South Africa and Zimbabwe sparked the internal fighting.
Today, Mozambique is one of the world's poorest countries, which suffers regularly from food shortages because of drought in the country, according to Reuters.