150 killed in Congo munitions depot blasts: EU diplomat

At least 150 people were killed in a series of explosions at a munitions depot in the Congolose capital of Brazzaville earlier on Sunday, a European diplomat said.

"We count at least 150 dead in the military hospitals and around 1,500 injured, some of them seriously," the diplomat said when contacted by telephone from Paris, after explosions rocked the Mpila military barracks in the east of the capital.

Correspondents in Brazzaville had earlier reported seeing four bodies, including that of a young girl, in a clinic near the barracks, while the Chinese Xinhua news agency said three Chinese workers were killed and dozens injured in the blasts.

A number of wounded, many wearing military uniforms, were also seen receiving first aid in the streets, a correspondent said.

The blasts, which even blew out windows across the Congo River in Kinshasa, were set off by a blaze in two munition depots in the Mpila armoured brigade barracks, in the east of Brazzaville, according to soldiers who refused to be named.

A diplomat said the incident "is not political and the president (Sassou Nguesso) is with the chief-of-staff to coordinate operations".

There was no official word from the government on the cause of the explosions, or damage sustained.

A diplomat said firefighters were finding it hard to fight the blaze because of ongoing explosions.

A number of houses were completely destroyed, while others saw windows and doors were blown away and roofs lifted, an AFP correspondent said.

A Catholic church, close to the barracks, was also damaged when the explosions occurred during Sunday mass.