Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Tanzanian Test

"Ammunition depot blasts kill 25 in Tanzania" by Associated Press / February 18, 2011

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — Thousands of people crowded a stadium for safety yesterday 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 pandemonium of residents fleeing the blasts, more than 150 children lost track of their parents. Officials appealed for mothers and fathers to report to the stadium to reunite with their offspring.

President Jakaya Kikwete promised an investigation into the explosions, which occurred Wednesday night and yesterday morning, the second fatal military ammo dump explosion in Tanzania’s commercial capital in less than two years. An accident at a Dar es Salaam military base in 2009 killed more than a dozen people.

Several houses and a school were leveled during the latest blasts....

The president visited the site of the blasts and tried to assure a still-jittery public that no more explosions would happen.

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