BRAZZAVILLE, republic of congo — Morticians stacked bodies two to a tray at Brazzaville’s main morgue Tuesday as state radio reported at least 246 people had died from two days of explosions at an armory that catapulted shells, rockets and other munitions into a densely populated area of the capital of the Republic of Congo.
Police said international firefighters had brought the main blaze under control by Tuesday morning and prevented it from spreading to a second munitions depot just 100 yards away. The second depot contains even heavier-caliber weapons, including Stalin’s Organ multiple rocket launchers, a military source said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
It still was unclear whether rescue efforts could start in earnest, nearly three days after the first blasts. The military source said there were plans for the controlled destruction of the munitions in the second depot, which likely will delay attempts to dig into the rubble to find possible survivors or bodies.
The government announced a period of national mourning to be observed from Tuesday until victims are buried, at an unknown date.
At the morgue of the city’s main Central University Hospital, funeral services director Ferdinand Malembo Milandou said on national television that they had run out of space.
National radio reported that the main morgue was holding 246 bodies. That did not appear to include 70 bodies at the morgue of the capital’s military hospital, reported to The Associated Press on Sunday.
Malembo Milandou emphasized that the wounded still were coming in Tuesday and that some were dying in hospitals. Many more corpses are likely to be found when rescue workers can dig into debris.
