Homes and buildings collapsed in the Congolese capital after an arms depot exploded
Sunday, killing at least 206 people. Countless others were entombed in crushed structures
including two churches that buckled while parishioners were celebrating Mass.
The
shock waves shattered windows in a three-mile radius surrounding the barracks storing
the munitions, including across the river that separates Brazzaville, the capital
of the Republic of Congo, from Kinshasa, the capital of the larger Central African
nation of Congo.
A Government spokesman blamed a short-circuit for the fire
that set off the successive blasts.
Some 1,500 people were injured.
The
president said that the government was doing it all it could to launch a rescue effort.