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President Laurent-Desire Kabila has declared Thursday as a day of tribute to over 100 people killed by a series of explosions at Kinshasa's international airport last week. According to a statement, read out over DRC state television by Information Minister Didier Mumengi, a mass burial of the victims on Thursday would mark the end of the official mourning period which began on Monday. The blasts occurred when a fire spread to a cargo of ammunition in the civilian part of the airport. Reuters news agency quoted two opposition parties as blaming the government for storing ammunition in the civilian section. The Union pour la democratie et le progres social (UPDS) and the Mouvement populaire revolutionnaire (MPR) called on the government to take full responsibility for the causes of the
explosions, Reuters said. Mumengi said the ammunition was in transit, and the government has set up an enquiry into the incident.
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