Nine die after explosion at weapons depot

A fire and explosions at Mozambique’s national weapons depot today killed at least nine people.

The blast sent thousands of people streaming from their homes near Maputo Airport.

Among the nine confirmed fatalities was one child, said Health Ministry spokesman Edgar Cossa on national television. There was no final word on the number of injured, he said.

President Armando Guebuza appealed for calm as firefighters and military officials tried to control the blaze.

“We lament what is happening,” Guebuza said. He postponed a planned visit tomorrow with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

The area was sealed off by police as scenes of panic unfolded in the capital. Streets were filled with people fleeing the area, with hundreds preparing to sleep rough because they were unable to return to their homes and others desperately searching for loved ones.

Five hours after the blaze started, there were still occasional explosions from the weapons depot in the impoverished Magoanine district three miles from the airport.

At the height of the inferno, some city centre windows were shattered by the intense heat. Buildings also shook with the impact of the explosions.

The national armoury is used to store weapons and ammunition, including some from Mozambique’s long civil war. It was the scene of an explosion in January, when three people were injured.

Guebuza said the military was working to determine the cause of the blasts.

Authorities blamed the fire at the weapons depot in January on the heat.