Huge explosions rocked a munitions depot in the Republic of Congo’s capital Brazzaville yesterday, killing at least 100 people and leaving countless others injured, the interior minister said.

We count at least 150 dead in hospitals and around 1,500 injured

A European diplomat said earlier that at least 150 bodies had piled up in military hospitals in the city and that more than 1,500 people had been injured in the blasts.

“There are more than 100 dead,” Interior Minister Raymond Mboulou said by telephone, citing civilian and military hospitals.

Mr Mboulou said the area around the munitions depot had been devastated with “many houses burned to the ground”.

“Therefore we have requisitioned pharmacies and we are in the process of finding ways and means to provide shelter for citizens,” he said.

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

A series of explosions rocked the Mpila military barracks in the east of the capital early yesterday after a blaze in two munitions depots. The force of the explosions blew out windows across the Congo River in Kinshasa, the capital of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, from where a huge pall of smoke could be seen hanging over Brazzaville.

At least five strong explosions were heard between 8 a.m. and 10.45 a.m.

In addition to the blasts, there were other weaker detonations which continued into the late morning, hampering firefighters and rescue workers.

“We count at least 150 dead in the military hospitals and around 1,500 injured, some of them seriously,” the European diplomat said when contacted by telephone from Paris.

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