WATCH Zimbabwe President Escapes Unharmed in Stadium Explosion

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa escaped unhurt after an explosion rocked a stadium where he was addressing a political rally on Saturday, a month before the country is due to hold its presidential elections. Watch below.

However, vice presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi and a minister sustained minor injuries following the blast at the White City Stadium in the second city of Bulawayo.

“There has been an incident at Bulawayo where the president was addressing a rally. This is now a police issue but the president is safe at Bulawayo State House,” spokesman George Charamba told Reuters.

“We are still to get information on what exactly happened as we understand that some people could have been injured as this happened in the VIP tent.”

National Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said she did not have details on the incident. 

Several security personnel were also injured, the state-owned Herald newspaper said.

Footage from Zimbabwe state television showed the explosion took place near Mnangagwa as he waved to supporters. He was later seen in pictures circulating on social media visiting Chiwenga’s wife in hospital. 

According to reports the explosion occurred just after the President left the stage. Zimbabwe Today claims that it was an assassination attempt on the President, and that two aides were killed in the blast.

Mnangagwa, who last year took over from former President Robert Mugabe, was speaking at his first rally in Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold where the ruling ZANU-PF has not won in national elections since 2000.

Zimbabwe holds its presidential election next month on July 30, with 75-year-old Mnangagwa and 40-year-old Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, the main contenders.

The vote next month is the first since Robert Mugabe’s downfall after a de facto military coup last November.

Unlike previous elections which were marred by violence, mostly against opposition members by ZANU-PF supporters, the run up to this year’s vote has been relatively peaceful.

Mnangagwa has promised a free and fair vote and if it is endorsed by international observers who are in the country for the first time since 2000, it could help Zimbabwe secure funding from international institutions for the first time in two decades.

Mnangagwa said last August, then the vice president, that he had been poisoned at a rally outside Bulawayo and spent weeks receiving medical treatment in neighbouring South Africa.

Zimbabwe last had blasts at rallies in the 1980s, which had targeted Mugabe.

Tweets from the President following the Explosion:

The President said in a series of tweets: “This afternoon, as we were leaving a wonderful rally in Bulawayo, there was an explosion on the stage. Several people were affected by the blast, and I have already been to visit them in the hospital.

“While we await further information, my thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this senseless act of violence. The campaign has been conducted in a free and peaceful environment, and we will not allow this cowardly act to get in our way as we move towards elections.

“Let us continue to be united and address our differences peacefully. The strongest response to violence is peace. The strongest response to hate is love. God Bless Zimbabwe.”

 (Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Mark Potter)

WATCH Explosion at Zimbabwe stadium

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