Blasts continue as experts battle to keep blazes from 2nd depot
Source: Agencies |
March 6, 2012, Tuesday
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INTERNATIONAL experts fought yesterday to prevent a fire from reaching a second arms depot in the capital of the Republic of Congo, a day after a blaze set off a series of explosions so violent they flattened buildings, killing hundreds and trapping countless others under the falling debris.
Small detonations continued to shake Brazzaville, though these were not nearly as loud as those that had convulsed the city on Sunday, buckling numerous buildings including two churches, and causing windows to explode in a 5-kilometer radius of the depot. Houses trembled as far away as the south of the country, and across the mighty Congo River in the heart of Kinshasa, the capital of the neighboring Central African nation of Congo.
"For the time being, there are Russian, French and Congolese experts in the field trying to put out the fires. Their goal is to prevent the fires reaching a second depot of even heavier weapons," said Delphin Kibakidi, the spokesman of the local chapter of the Red Cross.
A crowd had gathered outside the municipal morgue, which, along with a nearby hospital, had registered 206 deaths hours after the first blast.
In a two-hour stretch yesterday, another seven bodies were brought in to the morgue, bringing the death toll to at least 213. That number is expected to rise as rescuers begin clearing the debris, including from St Louis Catholic Church where dozens of worshippers were attending Sunday Mass when the building buckled.
Unexploded ordnance experts from the Mine Advisory Group, funded by the US State Department, said they were working with the country to help clear the area of danger.
People are fleeing the neighborhoods closest to the epicenter of the blast.
Kibakidi said the Red Cross had set up two camps inside churches and had already received 600 refugees.
"We estimate that there are tens of thousands of people without shelter," he said.
Government spokesman Bienvenu Okyemi blamed a short circuit for the fire that set off the blasts. In a statement read to the nation, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso described the ordeal as "a tragic accident."
Brazzaville's health care system is expected to be overwhelmed by the number of injured, which the government estimates at 1,500 people.
Foreign ambassadors, met officials yesterday to discuss aid, said a diplomat.
The World Health Organization's Kinshasa office sent 2.5 tons of medical supplies on Sunday, said a spokesman.
Small detonations continued to shake Brazzaville, though these were not nearly as loud as those that had convulsed the city on Sunday, buckling numerous buildings including two churches, and causing windows to explode in a 5-kilometer radius of the depot. Houses trembled as far away as the south of the country, and across the mighty Congo River in the heart of Kinshasa, the capital of the neighboring Central African nation of Congo.
"For the time being, there are Russian, French and Congolese experts in the field trying to put out the fires. Their goal is to prevent the fires reaching a second depot of even heavier weapons," said Delphin Kibakidi, the spokesman of the local chapter of the Red Cross.
A crowd had gathered outside the municipal morgue, which, along with a nearby hospital, had registered 206 deaths hours after the first blast.
In a two-hour stretch yesterday, another seven bodies were brought in to the morgue, bringing the death toll to at least 213. That number is expected to rise as rescuers begin clearing the debris, including from St Louis Catholic Church where dozens of worshippers were attending Sunday Mass when the building buckled.
Unexploded ordnance experts from the Mine Advisory Group, funded by the US State Department, said they were working with the country to help clear the area of danger.
People are fleeing the neighborhoods closest to the epicenter of the blast.
Kibakidi said the Red Cross had set up two camps inside churches and had already received 600 refugees.
"We estimate that there are tens of thousands of people without shelter," he said.
Government spokesman Bienvenu Okyemi blamed a short circuit for the fire that set off the blasts. In a statement read to the nation, President Denis Sassou-Nguesso described the ordeal as "a tragic accident."
Brazzaville's health care system is expected to be overwhelmed by the number of injured, which the government estimates at 1,500 people.
Foreign ambassadors, met officials yesterday to discuss aid, said a diplomat.
The World Health Organization's Kinshasa office sent 2.5 tons of medical supplies on Sunday, said a spokesman.
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