Dozens wounded in Tanzanian church blast
- 11 years ago
A suspected bomb attack on a new Catholic church in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha killed at least one person and wounded dozens of others on Sunday (May 5), police said.
One person was arrested after the blast, which killed a woman and wounded 57 other people a police spokesperson said.
The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, was attending the official opening of the church when the explosion occurred, but escaped unharmed.
If a bomb blast is proven, it will mark an escalation in sectarian tensions in east Africa's second biggest economy.
Two Christian leaders were killed in Tanzania's semi-autonomous, predominantly Muslim islands of Zanzibar earlier this year and there have been attacks on Muslim leaders and mosques.
Arusha lies near the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in a part of Tanzania that is predominantly Christian.
One person was arrested after the blast, which killed a woman and wounded 57 other people a police spokesperson said.
The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, was attending the official opening of the church when the explosion occurred, but escaped unharmed.
If a bomb blast is proven, it will mark an escalation in sectarian tensions in east Africa's second biggest economy.
Two Christian leaders were killed in Tanzania's semi-autonomous, predominantly Muslim islands of Zanzibar earlier this year and there have been attacks on Muslim leaders and mosques.
Arusha lies near the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in a part of Tanzania that is predominantly Christian.