- Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Friday set up an independent commission of inquiry to investigate thoroughly the causes of the explosions at the military arsenal in the outer Maputo suburb of Malhazine which have claimed the lives of almost 100 people.
Guebuza's decision was announced to the press by the official government spokesperson, Deputy Education Minister Luis Covane, at the end of a cabinet meeting called to discuss the tragedy.
Covane said that the government was so far aware of 83 deaths caused by the explosions (subsequently, according to reports on Radio Mozambique, the number has risen to 93). Over 350 people had been injured, added the deputy minister, 42 of whom were in a serious condition and in intensive care.
"We must clarify rigorously the causes of this event", said Covane. He did not say who would be appointed to the independent commission, other than that they would include experts on military matters. The commission will also make recommendations to the government.
It is expected to work rapidly and produce a preliminary report within two weeks.
In memory of the victims, the government has declared three days of national mourning, starting at zero hours on Saturday. During this period flags will be flown at half mast throughout the country.
When reporters from the Mozambican public press agency AIM visited areas near the arsenal on Friday, they found desperate families calling on the government to speed up the removal of bodies, and of the shells and other objects, some of them unexploded, that were flung out of the arsenal. These military devices are scattered all around Malhazine and the nearby areas.
At Block 31 of the George Dimitrov neighbourhood, AIM found shocked residents waiting for help to remove four bodies (one adult and three children). These victims, they said, were hit by projectiles shortly before 17.00 on Thursday. Such was the violence of the impact that the bodies were virtually blown apart.
A policeman told AIM that he had been waiting since early evening on Thursday for a vehicle to come and remove the bodies.
Well aware of the danger posed by unexploded ordnance, some residents have been using their own vehicles to pick up and dispose of the mortar shells, rockets and other devices expelled from the arsenal.
One of these was the head of the AIM photographic department, Ferhat Momade, who lives near the arsenal. Using his own car, with the help of three soldiers, he removed 20 objects, some of them unexploded, from the Kongolote neighbourhood.
Many parents are desperately looking for their children. For when the arsenal began to explode, many children were still at school. They fled in search of safety, and have not yet been reunited with their parents.
Friday's issue of the country's largest circulation weekly, the independent "Savana", blamed the military for the disaster. Its front page carried the one word banner headline "Negligence".
In an opinion article, Fernando Lima, chairman of the board of Mediacoop, the company that owns "Savana", called on Defence Minister Tobias Dai to resign.
Lima said it was "ridiculous" to blame the summer heat for the explosions, pointing out that there are specific technical norms dictating how explosives should be stored "regardless of climatic conditions".
Although Tobias Dai is not responsible for the day to day running of the Malhazine arsenal, "its is his men who are directly involved in incidents that have cost human lives, destroyed property, and spread enormous panic throughout Maputo".
The Defence Minister is "politically responsible" for the Ministry he heads, said Lima, and the best thing he could now do would be to offer his resignation to Guebuza.
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