Several dead in blast in DR Congo munitions dump

Several people died Friday when lightning triggered a huge blast in a military munitions dump in a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a government spokesman told AFP.

"Several losses of human life have been reported" in the explosion in the central city of Mbuji-Mayi, the spokesman, Lambert Mende, said in a brief statement.

He did not give a death and casualty toll.

A regional governor, Alphonse Ngoy Kasanji, told state television that "several houses" were destroyed by the blast, but normal activities had now resumed in the city.

A witness speaking by telephone said the lightning strike caused several explosions and a fire in the army camp in the centre of Mbuji-Mayi.

He estimated that the number of dead was more than 10.