101 killed in Kinshasa arms depot blaze

Yesterday, official figures had indicated that 12 people were killed and 134 injured when fire swept through a munitions depot here, triggering a series of explosions.

The explosions at the depot located at Ndjili airport east of Kinshasa damaged the roof at the airport terminal and blew out window panes.

Rescuers said they feared more people might be buried underneath the rubble of a collapsed customs building at the airport.

The powerful explosions ripped through the airport on Saturday, devastating much of the complex and wrecking three planes.

A government spokesman said the inferno was started by a short circuit that set off a warehouse fire near the military part of airport. The blaze then spread to a nearby ammunitions cargo waiting to be transported away.

His remarks contradicted reports by eyewitnesses who said that the explosion occurred in an ammunitions depot of the Zimbabwean army which supports the Congolese government in the 19-month-old civil war against anti-government rebels.

Initial reports said a military plane had crashed into an arms depot shortly after takeoff. According to reports on Sunday, the plane crash was caused by the detonations.

Two other planes, a Boeing 707 of a Nigerian airline and a second airforce craft, were also destroyed.

Rescue workers today sifted through the rubble of the collapsed customs building. "The roof of the building has collapsed. We reckon that between 30 and 100 people were inside," one eyewitness said.

The force of the explosions caused all windows of the passenger terminal building to crash. But the control tower remained undamaged so that air traffic could probably be resumed on Monday, a pilot said.