At least 73 people were killed and 110
others injured Thursday when a truck carrying petrol blew up in western
Mozambique near Malawi, the government said in a statement.
“The incident occurred when citizens
tried to take petrol from a truck” in the village of Caphiridzange in
Tete province, the statement said.
“Because of the heat, the truck burst
into flames, leading to the deaths of 43 people and causing burns in 110
others, according to investigators’ initial findings,” it added.
“Ambulances and medical personnel were
deployed to the scene in order to assist the victims. The injured were
evacuated to Tete hospital” around 90 kilometres (55 miles) away, it
said.
Authorities were probing whether the
truck was selling petrol when it exploded, or whether it had been
ambushed by residents, information ministry director Joao Manasses told
AFP.
A local journalist told AFP the truck
had crashed on Wednesday and exploded on Thursday afternoon, as scores
of people tried to siphon off fuel.
The government aims to send three ministers to the scene on Friday to monitor the rescuers’ work.
Mozambique is one of the world’s poorest
nations, according to the International Monetary Fund, and since its
civil war ended in 1992 its population has suffered the consequences of a
terrible economic crisis.
The government recently increased the
price of fuel, after the value of the local currency — named metical —
sunk against the dollar.
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