- Posted February 16, 2011 by
- Mwanakijiji Follow
Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
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Explosion in army armory in Dar-Tanzania kills many and injure many more
- nsaidi, CNN iReport producer
An explosion in an army ammunition depository in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania has killed at least ten people and injured hundreds more last night. In a fiery inferno remeniscent of a similar incident two years ago the explosion caught most of people at home around 10pm East African Time (2PM EST) and caused chaos in Tanzania's largest city of about four million people.
The armory is located not very far from Julius Nyerere International Airport, the Ukonga Prison and army barracks in the Gongo la Mboto area about 15 miles from the city center.
Early reports said that the national civil aviation authoritiesissued a directive to divert incoming flights from the Airport to other airports. At the same time regional authories closed major roads toward the area until the situation had been resolved. According to reports the City of Dar-es-Salaam does not have an Emergency Alert System which is very common to many major cities worldwide which is used to issue important information during an emergency.
The Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Abdurhaman Shimbo has ordered civilians living within the ten mile radius of the depository to leave the area "immediately for the situation is unsafe". However another official with the Police Force Commander Suleiman Kova of Dar-es-Salaam Police Special Zone issued a statement urging for calm as the security organs were working to bring the situation under control.
Speaking in a live broadcast on Television Mr. Kova said that so far "it seems to be an accident and nothing else". By midnight the situation started to return to calm as authorities were coordinating a massive humanitarian mission. Authories have directed people who could not go back to their houses to go to the National Stadium where first aid would be provided. Major hospitals in Dar-es-Salaam were directed to prepare to receive casualties and fatalities from Gongo la Mboto Explosion area.
(Picture By. J. Makamba)
- TAGS:
- tanzania,
- zanzibar,
- africa,
- kilimanjaro,
- east
- GROUPS:
- CNN International,
- News
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