KINSHASA, Congo -- The death toll from a string of airport blasts rose to 101, the government said Sunday, as most rescuers ended the search for bodies in the wreckage of a hangar that collapsed in the explosions.
Kinshasa Gov. Theophile Bemba Fundu announced the new casualty figures, while religious dirges played on state radio and the president called a period of national mourning after Friday's blasts at Kinshasa's N'Djili international airport.Hospital authorities said 216 people were injured. About 80 of these remained in critical condition on Sunday, Fundu said.
By the afternoon, all but a handful of Red Cross workers and other rescue volunteers were giving up the search through the collapsed hangar, used by customs and tax officials to handle incoming cargo from Europe. The rescue workers said they were hampered by lack of tools, water and food.
One man was rescued late Saturday evening after being buried alive beneath the hangar for more than 30 hours, a Red Cross worker, Jean-Jacques Malutama said. The man had broken ribs and legs and could not speak, he said.
"I don't know if there is anyone else alive inside," Malutama said. "It is difficult work. We are pulling out rubble by hand and we did not eat yesterday so it would be difficult to continue this evening."
Rescue officials had said Saturday that they feared 100 people were still trapped in the wreckage. It was not known how many people were still missing Sunday evening.
The reasons for the blast remained murky. Explanations ranged from a short circuit to a soldier dropping ammunition while unloading a plane full of weapons. The explosions of fuel and army munitions shattered windows, toppled buildings and flung deadly debris several miles away into residential neighborhoods.
Some friends and family members of those still missing persisted in the search Sunday.
Mvuezolo Nsimb, an airport porter, vowed to carry on digging. A small cluster of female family members hoping for news about missing loved ones looked on worriedly.
"Some of my friends are missing. I cannot abandon them," Nsimb said.
Congolese health authorities said international relief organizations had offered medical aid and Belgium was sending a plane with medical specialists. Yet hospitals issued an urgent appeal for blood donors to treat the injured.
President Laurent Kabila declared a national "time of bereavement," Fundu said without giving details. He also announced an aid package worth $750,000 and said victims' hospital and funeral expenses would be paid for by the state.
Bargain hunters gathered Sunday behind airport walls and buildings to buy salvaged computers, televisions and clothing looted from the customs hangar by soldiers.
"I heard the soldiers were selling so I came to the airport right away," said Julien Ndolo, a resident of the nearby Kingasani neighborhood.
Soldiers, police and firemen based at the airport, many of whom witnessed the blast, were still reeling Sunday morning from the tragedy.
"It was infernal and apocalyptic. Everyone is searching their heart for answers," said Elie Zambeli Rubega, the airport's chief firefighter.
The explosions initially set off panic in Kinshasa, where people living near the airport fled for the city center, fearing an escalation of Congo's 20-month civil war. The blasts took place on the first day of a cease-fire signed by the warring sides a week earlier.
All international flights over the weekend to and from Kinshasa were canceled, airline officials said.