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TWO KILLED IN MAURITIUS EXPLOSION
Two people have been killed and 14 injured in an explosion in the tourist resort of Grand Baie on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. "An explosion occurred in a building housing restaurants, bars and shops in Grand Baie," police spokesman Max Louison said. "At this moment we are not in a position to say what the cause of the explosion is. But we are taking it very seriously." A man and a woman, both in their mid-20s, were killed in the blast. Police said they believed that all of those injured were Mauritian. Forensic experts are trying to find the cause of the explosion. Paul Berenger, Prime Minister of the island of 1.2 million people, was also at the scene. UPDATE: An explosion at a tourist resort on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius that killed two people and injured 13 on Sunday may have been caused by gas cylinders, a government minister said. The blast in the resort of Grand Baie tore through a two-storey building housing restaurants, bars and shops at about 1:45 a.m. (2145 GMT), causing part of the top floor to collapse. "We believe that it could be due to the explosion of gas cylinders. We hope it is something like that," Anil Bachoo, minister of public infrastructure and transport, told Reuters while inspecting the scene. "We don't think it's a terrorist attack as we don't have terrorists in Mauritius," he said. He expected an investigation by forensic experts to be finished within 48 hours.
The country has no history of attacks on tourist sites and markets itself as safe for visitors, but the United States issued a travel advisory in March warning of a possible terrorist threat on the island and in the east African region. Over 700,000 tourists visited the island's white sand beaches last year, which lie some 4,000 km (2,500 miles) east of South Africa, bringing in almost $750 million in revenue.
Mauritius is also a major regional banking center and the world's seventh largest sugar exporter. It plans to turn itself into a "cyber island" information technology hub linking Asian software expertise with Africa.
Posted by: Fred 2004-07-26 |
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