An explosion rocked a stadium where Zimbabwe’s president was addressing a campaign rally on Saturday, state media reported, saying he was not injured and had been evacuated from the scene.
State media called it an assassination attempt but said President Emmerson Mnangagwa was safely at a state house in the city of Bulawayo, where he had been speaking ahead of next month’s election.
Witnesses said the blast occurred as Mnangagwa, nicknamed The Crocodile, had just finished addressing the crowd and was leaving the podium.
The country’s vice president Constantino Chiwenga and his wife sustained minor injuries from the blast, a source close to the president said.
Footage showed the explosion at a rally where the Zimbabwean President was speaking
Injured people lie on the ground following an explosion at the rally in Bulawayo today
Footage posted online showed the president waving to the crowd, turning to step off the podium and walking into the open-sided VIP tent.
Seconds later the explosion occurred before people ducked and screamed and smoke billowed.
Several people appeared tobe injured, and footage showed medical staff rushing to the scene. State television immediately cut its broadcast.
The explosion came just hours after a similar attack in Ethiopia, where a blast killed at least one person and injured scores just after the new prime minister addressed a huge rally in the capital.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba told The Zimbabwe Herald that investigations were underway, and pointed out that there have been ‘multiple attempts’ on Mnangagwa’s life over the years.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was safely at a state house in the city of Bulawayo, where he had been speaking ahead of next month’s election, local media reported
Mnangagwa took power in November after his former ally, longtime leader Robert Mugabe, stepped down under military pressure.
The July 30 election will be the first without Mugabe in the southern African nation since independence in 1980.
Past votes have been marked by allegations of violence and fraud, and the United States and others have said a credible vote is key to lifting international sanctions.
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, is traditionally an opposition stronghold.