Explosions and fire at a military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital caused fatalities and led to frantic efforts to put out the fire and treat the wounded, authorities and witnesses said on Wednesday.
The late Tuesday night explosions at the depot in N’Djamena lit up the sky as thick smoke engulfed the clouds over West Africa.
“What happened was that there were human losses and material destruction” President Mahamat Deby Itno wrote on Facebook. “May those who have died, RIP; please mourn with their families, we wish you all healing.”
He did not mention how many people were killed.
The cause of the fire was not immediately clear according to the President who also pledged an investigation into it.
People living in this locality panicked thinking that it was an attack resident Oumar Mahamat said
However, security and health personnel were later dispatched to the area, which helped normalize things. He added that residents should not panic.
According to local media, just before midnight last night there started several blasts lasting over thirty minutes during which neighbouring buildings rocked and ammunitions flew off from the dump explosively.
Authorities advised people to stay away from this neighbourhood since soldiers had arrived there looking for scattered shells.
Allamine Moussa pleads with government officials asking them for “quick assistance.”
“It is so sad that numerous deaths have been experienced by many families,” Moussa stated.
Chad is a country that has almost 18 million inhabitants. It has undergone political unrest both before and after a controversial election, allowing Deby Itno become victorious. In 2021 while serving as acting president he managed to get control of his state through military leadership because his father died during such a time period.
In recent years Burkina Faso fell into coup d’état while Mali did too followed closely by Niger. This makes Chad one of only remaining stable allies for France and USA in Sahelian Africa which is very volatile region southwards Sahara desert.
