Blast Kills 25 in Tanzania

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World Briefs (02/18/11)
From wire reports

Blasts kill 25 in Tanzania
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania -- Thousands of people crowded a stadium for safety Thursday after a military ammunition depot exploded and showered the city with a series of blasts, killing at least 25 and prompting a stampede getaway.

In the mayhem of residents fleeing the blasts, more than 150 children lost track of their parents, and officials appealed for mothers and fathers to report to the stadium to reunite with their offspring.

The blasts closed the city's international airport, near the Gongola Mboto military base, though it opened later Thursday. Some 4,000 residents were evacuated to the national stadium in Dar es Salaam, which lies along the Indian Ocean in East Africa

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11049/1126263-82.stm#ixzz1EKmIos00

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Kutoka CNN.Com
(CNN) -- A series of explosions at a military base in Tanzania killed 20 people and displaced 4,000 residents, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said Thursday.

In a statement delivered as he adjourned the parliament, Pinda said the blasts occurred Wednesday night at an ammunition bunker at the Gongola Mboto army base in Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. It destroyed 23 munitions depots as well as a nearby school and two houses, and forced 4,000 people to seek shelter at the national stadium.

"The death toll might rise when we ascertain the full extent of the damage caused by the explosions," Pinda said.

Earlier, another official said at least 184 people were injured in the explosions that lit up the night sky in Dar es Salaam and spread debris throughout surrounding areas.
Nyancheghe Nanai, assistant director of disaster management, was unable to say what caused the explosions but added that she "does not think" they were related to terrorism.

Two years ago, explosions at another arms depot in Dar es Salaam left 29 dead from rocket and artillery discharges, Nanai said. Those blasts were not caused by terrorism, she said.

The explosions in the densely populated city rattled neighborhoods and forced the closure of the main international airport, which is near the army base.