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Scores killed in Mozambique fuel truck blast

Friday, 18 November 2016 7:31 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 18 November 2016 9:27 AM ]

An injured child arrives at the provincial hospital in Tete after a fuel truck explosion, November 17, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

Scores of people have been killed and more than a hundred others injured in an explosion that happened as they tried to siphon oil from an overturned truck in western Mozambique.

The incident occurred on Thursday in the village of Caphiridzange in Tete Province, killing 73 people and injuring over 110, some of them critically, the government said in a statement.

The truck had been carrying fuel to Malawi from the port city of Beira.

The exact circumstances of the incident were not clear. An early government statement had said the blast occurred “because of the heat.” Information ministry director Joao Manasses, however, said people may have ambushed the truck.

Government officials said the local hospital was reinforcing its staff to help treat those injured, saying more bodies might be in surrounding woods because some badly burned people had tried to run into a nearby river.

Three government ministers were due to arrive to the village on Friday to monitor the rescue work.

The government in Mozambique increased fuel prices at the beginning of October, causing a rise in the inflation rate.

Mozambique, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been suffering the consequences of an economic crisis since its civil war ended in 1992, according to the International Monetary Fund.

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