Around 200 dead in Congo Republic blasts

KINSHASA: Around 200 people have been killed and many more injured in a series of explosions in Brazzaville, the capital of Congo Republic, according to a senior official in the presidency, citing hospital sources.

"According to sources at the central hospital we're talking of around 200 dead and many injured," Betu Bangana, head of protocol in the president's office in Brazzaville, told Reuters by telephone.

Congolese officials earlier said the blasts occurred after a fire started in an arms depot in a military base in the riverside capital.