Zimb, Ethiopia leaders survive bomb blasts

Saturday June 23, 2018

By Tranquility News Reporter and Agencies

Two African leaders survived assassination attempts on Saturday, Reuters and CNN report.

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa was not hurt in a blast at a stadium in the second city of Bulawayo.

Bodyguards rushed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed unharmed off the stage where he had been seated after a blast rang out.

Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and his wife sustained minor injuries from the blast at a political rally, a source close to President Mnangagwa told Reuters on Saturday.

“Mrs Chiwenga was slightly injured. Her husband was also affected in a minor way,” the source said.

Meanwhile, dozens were also injured in the explosion at a rally in Addis Ababa attended by the Ethiopian Prime Minister, officials said.

“There were a few casualties. Details will be provided later,” government spokesman Ahmed Shide said, adding that “a few” deaths are likely.

At least 114 people were hospitalised with injuries, some of them critical, said Solomon Ali of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society.

“It was very hard to transfer wounded people because there were dozens of thousands of people at the rally,” Ali said.

The blast occurred after the 41-year-old leader had finished giving a speech before thousands of supporters in Meskel Square of the Ethiopian capital.

Ahmed was sworn in as Prime Minister in April on a platform to unite Ethiopians and improve relations with neighboring Eritrea.

Last week, he announced he was allowing access to 264 websites blocked under the previous regime.