Senegal’s President Macky Sall was promptly rescued by his bodyguards after his limousine suddenly caught fire, as he was attending a state funeral for late statesman Ousmane Tanor Dieng on Wednesday.
He was being accompanied by his Malian counterpart, Ibrahima Boubacar Keita, to the funeral of Mr. Dieng, the Secretary General of the Socialist Party.
The incident occurred shortly after the arrival of the presidential motorcade in Ngueniene, the home village of the former President of the High Council of Local Authorities (HCCT) located 135 km south of Dakar, privately daily newspaper L’Observateur reported on Thursday.
The newspaper said a loud bang was heard after the vehicle had rode over a speed bump near the local Grand Mosque, where the funeral rites were scheduled to take place.
People who were present to witness the funeral covoy carrying Ousmane Tanor Dieng’s remains, then took to their heels, as security agents rushed to the scene of the burning limo and whisked the president and his Malian counterpart from harm’s way.
The two leader were shortly afterwards transferred to a 4×4 vehicle where they stayed for several minutes before joining the mosque to attend the funeral prayer for Mr. Dieng, who died on Monday in France at the age of 72.
Before the incident, which triggered comments, President Macky Sall had, from the Blaise Diagne International Airport, where Dieng’s mortal remains had just arrived, paid a national tribute to the deceased, decorating him posthumously as Grand Officer of the National Order of the Lion and naming one of the ministerial towers built in Diamniadio (41 km from Dakar) after him.
Concurrent sources told La Tribune newspaper that an investigation was underway to determine the circumstances of the incident involving the burning limo.
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