Zimbabwe VP injured, president escapes blasts

Zimbabwe’s vice president Constantino Chiwenga and his wife sustained minor injuries from a blast at a political rally, a source close to president Emmerson Mnangagwa told Reuters on Saturday.

“Mrs Chiwenga was slightly injured. Her husband was also affected in a minor way,” the source said.

Mnangagwa’s spokesman said earlier that the president was not hurt in the blast at a stadium in the second city of Bulawayo and was taken to safety.

An explosion rocked a stadium in Zimbabwe where president Emmerson Mnangagwa was addressing a political rally on Saturday, his spokesman said, adding the head of state was unhurt and taken to safety.

“There has been an incident at Bulawayo (White City Stadium) 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.”

The police were not immediately available for comment.

Footage from Zimbabwe state television showed the explosion took place near Mnangagwa as he waved to supporters.

Mnangagwa was speaking at his first rally in the second city of Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold where the ruling ZANU-PF has not won in national elections since 2000.

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