Tete, Mozambique: Deaths in truck explosion highlight poverty

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Tete, Mozambique: Deaths in truck explosion highlight poverty

1:25 CAT | 21 Nov 2016

Voa / Family members of the victims the fuel tanker explosion

By the end of Saturday 19 November, the death toll from the tanker explosion in Tete had risen to 68. Most were young. There were also pregnant women and children. They died trying to get fuel from the tanker truck.
VOA found the locality an environment that highlights the poverty of the coal-rich district. Caphirizhange, where the incident occurred, has hundreds of tiny huts built of clay and thatched with grass. A few have zinc sheet roofs.

Despite its proximity to the city – Tete is just over 60 kilometres away – there is nothing. There is no employment, and the population, mostly young, wander through the shortcuts of white earth and stone hoping to find business opportunities.

Agriculture is a possibility, but it has not rainedfor some time. Selling fuel obtained from truck drivers diverted from the route to neighbouring Malawi has been a lucrative business. Some young people mine coal.

“Many went there to take fuel to make money”

Adelino Biquilone, village leader of Nhacathale, where the tanker exploded, summed up the tragedy in two words: “Hunger and poverty.” However, Biquilone, who lost a son-in-law and a grandson in the blast, does not agree with this stance and says that everything happened because no-one has moral values.

Maria Nhampenza, who lost a sister in the incident, says: “Many went there to take fuel to make money. It was an opportunity to get money to buy food … parents and children got involved and died.”

Supinho Laissone, who lives in the area, agrees. “It is famine. Many also came to steal fuel. ” Laissone says fuel resellers were promising to pay “a good price”.

Ranito Tapuleta survived, and confessed that he “wanted money to buy corn and flour to feed his family”. If he had managed to get the fuel, a litre would have sold for 50 meticals, against the usual price of 60.

Many families will have to buy new containers for water, since everything that was taken to the tanker is now charred.

Reinforcements and difficulties in Health assistance

In Caphiridzange health post, wounds are washed with soap, but the wounded survivors get no dressing for lack of material, a survivor who did not need to be transferred to Tete city says.

Tete provincial hospital had no capacity to attend to the dozens of patients with severe burns, so the health ministry reinforced the staff there with 11 doctors from the capital, Maputo, among them dermatologists, plastic surgeon and a coroner.

Tete, funeral das vitimas — Victims’ funeral

Minister of State Administration and Civil Service Carmelita Namashulua, who attended the burial of 22 victims on 19 November, expressed her solidarity with the families. Funerals are taking place with support from government and social organizations, and the Government set up a tent and offered food to the families of the victims.

The Council of Ministers decided after the incident to declare three days of national mourning and conduct an investigation.

There are reports that the fuel tanker fire was caused by a short circuit in the pump that was being used to pump fuel into the drums. One section of the tank was charred, which drew attention of several residents who saw an opportunity.

After the driver’s escape and in the uncontrolled situation, the population began to pump fuel from the second section of the tank, which later caught fire, killing 43 people immediately.

Source: Voa Portugues