Guinea mining town rocked by riot

Published Aug 25, 2009

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Conakry - Riots over water and electricity shortages in the Guinea mining town of Kamsar on Monday left at least one person dead and two seriously wounded, police and medical sources told reporters.

Kamsar is the centre of the bauxite industry in Guinea, the world's top exporter of the aluminium ore. Witnesses said shots were fired when soldiers were called in to quell a disturbance by local youths.

"We were handed the body of a young man. We are checking how he died," a doctor at Kamsar hospital said by telephone.

A senior police official, who also requested anonymity, confirmed a youth had died and said at least two others were seriously wounded.

Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), 51-percent-owned by a venture between Alcoa and Rio Tinto Alcan, produced a record 13.7 million tons of bauxite in 2008.

There have been local tensions related to CBG's presence. Residents have in the past sought to block access to the CBG plant by putting obstacles on the railway track leading to it. - Reuters

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