Burn survivors recover from blast
Source: Agencies |
July 5, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MOANING and badly burned survivors from a massive tanker blast that killed at least 230 people recovered in a crumbling eastern Congo hospital yesterday, two days after the wrecked fuel truck exploded on a rural highway.
In a conflict-strewn corner of one of the world's most unstable countries, the shocking tragedy late Friday in the village of Sange was a devastating blow for residents in a still lawless region who survived back-to-back wars that lasted from 1996 to 2002.
United Nations spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said yesterday at least 231 died and 195 were injured in the explosion. The Red Cross said at least 61 children and 36 women were among those killed.
"It's a miserable, poor life we have here in Congo," said Muke Ndengwa, whose 15-year-old son was nearly killed in the blast. "When we had the war here, we had everything stolen from us. Now we have lost so much again."
Troubles began when the tanker hauling fuel from the provincial capital, Bukavu, overturned as it tried to pass a minibus in Sange, a small village near the Burundi border. Laying on its side, the wrecked vehicle began gushing gasoline beside three flimsy television halls made of brick and wood, where hundreds of people had gathered to watch the World Cup.
Crowds gathered around the wreck, and dozens of people began trying to collect the leaking gasoline with jerry-cans and plastic buckets, ignoring pleas from UN peacekeepers to move away because of the danger.
Within an hour, a fire began - nobody is sure exactly how - and a massive explosion suddenly engulfed the three TV halls and a nearby market.
At the time, Jackson Ndengwa, 15, was inside one of the makeshift halls to watch one of his favorite teams, Ghana, play Uruguay.
"The hall was full of people," he said from his hospital bed in Uvira, a town about 30 kilometers to the south. "We never expected that there could be a fire like this."
In a conflict-strewn corner of one of the world's most unstable countries, the shocking tragedy late Friday in the village of Sange was a devastating blow for residents in a still lawless region who survived back-to-back wars that lasted from 1996 to 2002.
United Nations spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said yesterday at least 231 died and 195 were injured in the explosion. The Red Cross said at least 61 children and 36 women were among those killed.
"It's a miserable, poor life we have here in Congo," said Muke Ndengwa, whose 15-year-old son was nearly killed in the blast. "When we had the war here, we had everything stolen from us. Now we have lost so much again."
Troubles began when the tanker hauling fuel from the provincial capital, Bukavu, overturned as it tried to pass a minibus in Sange, a small village near the Burundi border. Laying on its side, the wrecked vehicle began gushing gasoline beside three flimsy television halls made of brick and wood, where hundreds of people had gathered to watch the World Cup.
Crowds gathered around the wreck, and dozens of people began trying to collect the leaking gasoline with jerry-cans and plastic buckets, ignoring pleas from UN peacekeepers to move away because of the danger.
Within an hour, a fire began - nobody is sure exactly how - and a massive explosion suddenly engulfed the three TV halls and a nearby market.
At the time, Jackson Ndengwa, 15, was inside one of the makeshift halls to watch one of his favorite teams, Ghana, play Uruguay.
"The hall was full of people," he said from his hospital bed in Uvira, a town about 30 kilometers to the south. "We never expected that there could be a fire like this."
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