At least 34 people were killed on Saturday after an explosion at a fuel depot in southern Benin.

A statement from the decentralisation and governance ministry said the order for an "exhaustive assessment" of all fuel depots was to prevent a similar incident from occurring in other areas.

"Despite raising awareness and measures taken by the government to limit smuggling activities, particularly those linked to the storage and sale of gasoline across the country, certain people continue to store gasoline in inappropriate places," it warned.

Saturday's incident happened at a depot in a densely populated market in the southern town of Seme Podji near the border with Nigeria.

Benin’s Interior Minister Alassane Seidou told reporters that two babies were among those killed in the incident.

At least 20 more people were injured and were being treated in hospital.