Blasts Rock Airport in Congo Capital

Explosions shook Kinshasa’s airport Friday, setting fire to several buildings, killing an undetermined number of people and seriously injuring dozens more.

State-run radio reported that a short circuit sparked a fire at an army munitions depot, triggering a series of explosions that shattered all the windows of the airport terminal.

The fire spread to a fuel depot, causing further explosions and engulfing two military planes in flames, the radio said.

An airport official, however, said the fire and explosions were triggered by a soldier who dropped ammunition while unloading a plane full of weapons. That explosion set fire to the fuel depot, from which flames spread to the munitions depot, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was not possible to independently confirm either account.

U.N. sources in New York said there were unconfirmed reports that 27 people were injured. State radio said some people were killed, but did not specify the number.

David Wimhurst, a U.N. spokesman in New York, said the explosions involved a Boeing 707, though he did have any further details.

Secondary explosions persisted for more than two hours as ammunition blew up, showering the area with shrapnel, the radio reported.

Ambulances raced back and forth between the airport and city hospitals, ferrying the injured.

The Kinshasa General Hospital was overwhelmed by the number of dead and injured, said staff who declined to give numbers. Distraught relatives milled through the hallways and clustered around the emergency room hoping to get news of the missing.

U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe, also speaking in New York, said the world organization had offered to help transport the injured.

The explosions set off a brief panic in Kinshasa, where residents near the airport fled their homes out of fear that Congolese rebels might have reached the capital.

In Brazzaville, the capital of neighboring Republic of Congo, residents gathered along the Congo River to watch flames from the explosions shooting into the air.

The airport was sealed off by soldiers and police.

It was not clear if the explosions were related to Congo’s 20-month civil war, which pits the government of President Laurent Kabila against various rebel armies backed by Uganda and Rwanda.

The war in Congo, formerly called Zaire, erupted a year after Kabila overthrew the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

A cease-fire pact was signed July 10 by Kabila and his allies--Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia--and by Rwanda and Uganda, which are backing the rebels. But fighting continues with the various sides blaming each other for violations.