Lilongwe - An unknown assailant set off a home-made petrol bomb during mass in a Catholic church injuring 24 people, three of them seriously, in Malawi's administrative capital, police and priests said on Monday.
Peter Madeso, priest for Kanengo Catholic parish, a populous township outside the capital, said that he heard an explosion around 8.45am (06H45GMT) on Sunday while he was presiding over mass - and all went haywire.
"I rushed to switch off the mains suspecting it was an electrical fault... it was soon discovered it was not an electrical fault but a home-made petrol bomb," Madeso said.
"There was general pandemonium with people running in all directions... others were trampled upon while fleeing," he added.
Continues Below ↓
More than 800 people were in the church at the time of the incident.
An witness, parishioner James Chigogo, who sat close to the unknown assailant, said a "young man" stealthily entered the church mid-way through the mass, and sat down with a jerrycan and concealed it in a plastic bag.
He said the man remained seated during prayers when everybody else had knelt down.
"I then saw a liquid flowing out of the bag to the floor, and when I pointed it out to him, he immediately produced a match from his trouser pocket and lighted the bag which exploded."
The assailant fled during the commotion.
"We really don't know what his motive was," Chigogo said.
Police spokesperson Willie Mwaluka said: "We have intensified our investigations to establish whatever happened."
He said three people were seriously injured and 21 escaped with minor injuries, sustained during the stampede.
A nurse at the main Kamuzu Central hospital, who identified herself as Patricia Nkhoma, said two people were admitted with "serious burns all over their bodies." - Sapa-AFP
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
