91 Reportedly Die in Train Ambush
A train carrying hundreds of refugees in northwestern Angola hit a mine, derailing and bursting into flames before coming under attack by gunmen, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said. As many as 91 people were said to have died.
Lusa said the train was carrying more than 500 refugees who were fleeing fighting that has been going on between the government of this southern African country and UNITA rebel forces since Angola’s 1975 independence from Portugal. UNITA is the Portuguese acronym for the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola.
The train was headed southeast from the capital, Luanda, to the city of Dondo when the ambush happened.
Once the train hit the mine and derailed, gunmen attacked, Lusa quoted witnesses as saying.
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