ETHIOPIA: Explosions hit capital wounding four people and damaging a restaurant, a market and a tourism training centre

Record ID: 359544

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: Explosions hit capital wounding four people and damaging a restaurant, a market and a tourism training centre
  • Date: 8th March 2006
  • Summary: (BN13) ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (MARCH 7, 2006) (REUTERS) WIDE SHOT EXTERIOR OF LALIBELA RESTAURANT, SCENE OF EXPLOSION; BLAST DAMAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) RESTAURANT MANAGER ANNEN MOHAMMED SAYING: "The explosion occurred just outside the restaurant, no one was hurt within the restaurant but four people who were walking on the street were wounded and taken to hospital."
  • Embargoed: 23rd March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ethiopia
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVADG2K1VPQFS6LBL6B0LM7CE12E
  • Story Text: Three explosions shook the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday (March 7, 2006), injuring at least four people, in what police called an attempt by unknown culprits to "disrupt the peace and tranquility of the nation".
    One blast hit the Lalibela restaurant in the southern part of the city, extensively damaging the structure. Restaurant manager Asnketch Makaonnen said the explosion was caused by a bomb planted in a flower pot outside. Another explosion struck a market, also in the south of the city, damaging a bookstore and auto parts shop. Police said the device was hidden in a rubbish bin. There were no injuries.
    A third, later blast occurred outside the gate of a hotel and tourism training centre in the city centre, damaging a cafeteria inside. No one was injured in the blast, which also damaged a small guard shack at the gate. Police surrounded all three sites and investigators sifted through the debris.
    "I do not even know what happened to me and after that incidence, I can not hear anything," blast victim Dereje Negussie said as he sat on his hospital bed, one of two of the injured kept in hospital for treatment.
    Ethiopia has been hit by a series of violent protests in which more than 80 people have died since elections in May, which the opposition says were rigged.
    Top opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) leaders were among 131 people charged with treason and planning to commit genocide stemming from those protests. In January, explosive devices planted by unknown people damaged several public buildings and hotels in Addis Ababa. Last month the Federal Police Anti-Terrorism Taskforce issued a statement saying it had foiled a plot to "unleash armed urban terrorism" in the capital by a group linked to the CUD.
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