Bangui – The European Union’s mission to the troubled Central African Republic (CAR) has been wrecked in a fire, the EU ambassador said on Monday.
“The buildings of the EU delegation in Bangui were ravaged by a fire overnight. No-one was hurt,” envoy Douglas Darius Carpenter said in a tweet.
An AFP journalist at the scene of the fire said most of the buildings were blackened and white smoke was still rising from burned-out roofing.
Salvaged computers were on the ground outside, and steel bars on the outside of the buildings were twisted by the heat of the blaze.
The fire occurred “around midnight,” a watchman told AFP.
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The authorities gave no indication as to the cause of the blaze.
EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said in a tweet, “All employees are safe and sound. We are working with the Central African authorities to swiftly shed all possible light on the causes of the incident.”
An EU official in the CAR, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the fire should not have a big impact on the mission’s work.
“Employees will continue to work remotely until new premises are found,” the official said.
The landlocked CAR is one of the most troubled and poorest countries in the world, despite an abundance of mineral wealth.
It remains scarred by a 2013 civil war, unleashed by a coup against then president Francois Bozize, in which armed groups battled along sectarian lines.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Unsplash
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