Watch: More on how a fuel tanker en route to Malawi exploded in Caphiridzange, Tete – AIM report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Watch: More on how a fuel tanker en route to Malawi exploded in Caphiridzange, Tete – AIM report

8:28 CAT | 18 Nov 2016

At least 73 people died on Thursday when a fuel tanker exploded in Moatize district, in the western Mozambican province of Tete.

A statement from the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) issued on Thursday night put the death toll at 43, with a further 110 people suffering from various degrees of burns. But many of the injured were too seriously burned for doctors to save their lives.

Friday’s issue of the Maputo daily ‘Noticias’ says that by the time it went to press the death toll had risen to 73.

The tragedy occurred in the locality of Caphiridzange, when a crowd of people tried to steal fuel from the tanker. Because of the summer heat in Tete (which often has the highest temperatures of any Mozambican province), the fuel caught fire and there was a devastating explosion.

Ambulances and medical staff were mobilized and rushed to the scene of the disaster. The injured were evacuated to Tete provincial hospital.

The tanker belonged to a Malawian company and was carrying 80,000 litres of petrol from the port of Beira to Malawi. Caphiridzange is not on the direct route to Malawi, and it is not yet known why the Malawian driver diverted his vehicle from the normal route. The attempted theft occurred just after he had parked the vehicle.

Interviewed by ‘Noticias’, the Tete provincial police commander, Fabiao Nhancolo, said “It all happened because the driver of the truck abandoned EN7 (national highway seven, which runs through the middle of Tete province to the Malawian border). During the theft of fuel, the vehicle caught fire and exploded”.

The thieves used a pump to drain fuel from the tanker to a smaller vehicle. According to the police, much of the theft took place in the morning. When they realised that there was still petrol in the tanker, people returned at about 14.00 to continue stealing the fuel, and it was then that the explosion occurred,

The Council of Ministers announced that a government delegation will go to Moatize on Friday to join the efforts of the Tete provincial government to support the survivors. The government delegation is headed by the Minister of State Administration, Carmelita Namashalua, and also includes Transport Minister Carlos Mesquita, Deputy Health minister Mouzinho Saide, and the director of the Mozambican relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC), Joao Machatine.