60 Africa DR Congo
Metadata
- 60 Africa DR Congo
- June 28, 2021
- Language English
- Transcript/Script TITLE: RAW DRCONGO CONFLICT CHURCH VIDI9DB7GX HEADLINE: Investigators on site after bomb blasts in eastern DRC church COMMENT: - Josué Kambale, Butsili area head - Monseigneur Laurent Sondirya, Diocese head KEYWORDS: Josué Kambale, Monseigneur Laurent Sondirya, COD, , Beni DESCRIPTION: Local authorities inspect the scene after a home-made bomb explodes in a Catholic church in the city of Beni in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, injuring two people. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES =====SCRIPT TEXT DATA===== SHOTLIST BENI, DR CONGO JUNE 27, 2021 SOURCE: AFPTV IMAGES (02:28) 1. Wide shot damaged interior of Emmanual Parish in the region of Busili 2. Wide shot damaged interior of church 3. Mid shot armed security officials inside church 4. Mid shot armed security officials inside church 5. Wide shot armed security officials inside church 6. Mid shot officials in church, damaged keyboard in foreground 7. Mid shot people inside church 8. Mid shot area in church interior where bomb exploded 9. Wide shot area in church interior where bomb exploded 10. Mid shot area in church interior where bomb exploded 11. Close-up area in church interior where bomb exploded 12. Mid shot damaged church benches 13. Wide shot damaged church interior 14. Close-up damaged keyboard 15. Close-up damaged equipment 16. Wide shot officials and diocese head inspect damage 17. Wide shot exterior of Emmanuel Parish 18. Mid shot children look through broken windows of church 19. Wide shot damaged interior of church 20. Wide shot area outside church 21. Mid shot officials and diocese head inspect damage 22. Low angle shot officials and diocese head inspect damage 23. Mid shot officials and diocese head inspect damage 24. Mid shot officials and diocese head inspect damage 25. Close-up remains of bomb 26. SOUNDBITE 1 - Josué Kambale, Butsili area head (male, Congo Swahili, 27 sec): "Around 6am local time I was following the news on the radio, and heard a loud bang. At first I thought it was a clash between our army and the ADF rebels in the bush. Afterwards, I received a phone call to say that a bomb had been detonated in the Catholic church in my neighbourhood. I came quickly, I saw that it is true the church was damaged, the windows, the roof also damaged and the furniture." 27. SOUNDBITE 2 - Josué Kambale, Butsili area head (male, Congo Swahili, 20 sec): "Two women were injured who were here early in the morning to prepare the church. One woman is seriously injured. She has been rushed to hospital. We will come by to see how she is doing." 28. SOUNDBITE 3 - Monseigneur Laurent Sondirya, Diocese head (male, French, 34 sec): "This is already a sign, it is not only targeted at the church, it can be targeted at all public places. So it's a start and it alerts us to be careful. We don't know who did this, what it was about, but it was certainly to do harm. And fortunately we were lucky that there were only two people inside, we don't know their health status yet, but they were okay. But the goal was to target a large crowd." "C'est déjà un signe, ce n'est pas seulement ciblé sur l'église, ça peut être ciblé sur tous les endroits publics. Alors c'est un début et qui nous alerte pour faire attention. Celui qui a fait ça on ne sait pas de qui il s'agit, de quoi il s'agit, mais certainement c'était pour faire du Mal. Et heureusement nous avons eu la chance qu'il y avait seulement deux personnes qui étaient à l'intérieur on ne sait encore leurs états de santé, mais elles s'en sont assortis, mais si non c'était pour viser une grande foule." /// ----------------------------------------------------------- AFP TEXT STORY: newseries Church bomb blast wounds two in eastern DR Congo By Seros Muyisa with Bienvenu-Marie Bakumanya in Kinshasa =(Picture+Graphic)= ATTENTION - ADDS quotes from injured woman /// Beni, DR Congo, June 27, 2021 (AFP) - A makeshift bomb exploded inside a Catholic church in the city of Beni in DR Congo's conflict-plagued east on Sunday, injuring two women just an hour before a children's confirmation ceremony was due to be held. The attack marks the first time a Catholic building has been targeted in the region, which has declared a "state of siege" due to rising violence from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia accused of killing thousands. The head of police in Beni's town hall Narcisse Muteba Kashale told AFP that the explosion occurred at 6:00 am (0400 GMT), and that the homemade bomb had been "set up for an ambush". Beni's vicar general Laurent Sondirya said two women were injured in the blast, which went off shortly before crowds were due to start gathering for the confirmation ceremony. "They were targeting a large crowd because the ceremony would bring together children, their parents and the faithful," he told AFP. The mass to "administer the sacrament of confirmation would not be postponed", he added. Traces of blood could seen at the entrance to the church in the aftermath of the explosion, an AFP reporter said, while shards of glass where scattered inside and the sound equipment was destroyed. "I had just entered the church, I hadn't even managed to sit down, I heard 'Boom'... Blood started flowing from my mouth," one of the injured women, Antoinette Kavira, told AFP from her hospital bed. "I lost four teeth and was injured in the arms," she added. The second victim still in shock after being wounded in the leg. The explosion was heard around the Emmanuel Butsili parish in a working-class neighbourhood of Beni, witnesses told AFP. Experts from the UN's MONUSCO mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo went to the scene and secured the perimeter. Parish priest Isidore Kambale said a security commission had been set up. "We have to be vigilant," he told AFP. - Second blast in 24 hours - The latest violence came just a day after another bomb exploded next to a petrol station on the outskirts of Beni without causing any damage. Muteba Kashale said the "home-made bomb was hidden under a truck's trailer when it exploded, but my services thought it was a puncture. "But this morning I saw there were shards exactly like those in the church." Catholicism is the city's largest religion and it is the first time one of the church's building has been hit in Beni territory, where the ADF militia is accused of having killed 6,000 people since 2013, according to the Catholic episcopate. The ADF were suspected of kidnapping three priests from Beni in 2014 -- they remain missing and no one has claimed the abduction. Two imams in Beni known for speaking out against the ADF violence were shot dead in May this year, one inside the city's mosque and the other after evening prayers. The ADF is the deadliest of an estimated 120 armed militia groups in the mineral-rich east of the vast central African country, many of them a legacy of two regional wars from 1996 to 2003. Historically a Ugandan Islamist group now based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since 1995, it is accused of having killing hundreds of civilians since launching operations from a base in the jungle around Beni in November 2019. Beni is in the North Kivu province, which along with neighbouring Ituri province, was placed under a "state of siege" on May 6 by President Felix Tshisekedi in a bid to clamp down on militia violence in the east. str-bmb/jj/dl -------------------------------------------------------------Â
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Rights See script for restrictions and source information.
- Network VOA
- Expiration Date June 30, 2021 08:19 EDT
- Embargo Date June 29, 2021 15:12 EDT
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English