Congo-B: an ammunition depot of a northern military camp reduced to ashes
Soldiers from Congo-Brazzaville (illustration image).
AFP-STR
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
A Congolese army ammunition depot in the sixth Military Defense Zone (ZMD) in Impfondo, more than 900 kilometers to the north of the country, was completely destroyed by fire on Tuesday 10 January.
The explosions caused a great scene of panic.
The report drawn up by the military authorities shows significant material damage and two injuries.
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With our correspondent in Brazzaville,
Loïcia Martial
It was at 8:50 a.m. local time that the fire broke out in the arms store of the Military Zone of Impfondo, a town irrigated by the Oubangui River.
The entire depot burned, according to concordant testimonies which reported the flames remained bright all morning.
Videos circulating on social networks showed populations in disarray.
Schools, businesses and the administration had to close.
The detonations were heard within a radius of about 10 kilometers, according to military sources contacted on the spot by RFI.
A delegation led by General Guy-Blanchard Okoï, Chief of General Staff of the Congolese Armed Forces visited the scene.
The commander of civil security, General Albert Ngoto, took stock of the tragedy on public television.
“
On the material level, the ammunition store was blown up by the explosions, then the zone commander's secretariat, whose offices were damaged, in particular the computer equipment.
On a human level, there are two minor injuries.
It is a motorcyclist and a passenger who, panicked, fell from their motorbike
,” he said.
The army must open an investigation to determine the origin of the fire and establish responsibilities.
A military source has already ruled out the hypothesis of a short circuit;
the ammunition store is not electrified.
It was in the afternoon that calm returned to the town of Impfondo and the populations resumed their activities.
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