{"id":145442,"date":"2018-06-23T16:34:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T16:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/zimbabwe-president-mnangagwa-says-he-was-inches-from-bulawayo-explosion\/"},"modified":"2018-06-23T16:34:49","modified_gmt":"2018-06-23T16:34:49","slug":"zimbabwe-president-mnangagwa-says-he-was-inches-from-bulawayo-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/zimbabwe-president-mnangagwa-says-he-was-inches-from-bulawayo-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe President Mnangagwa says he was ‘inches’ from Bulawayo explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ZimbabweanImage copyright EPA
Image caption President Mnangagwa (centre) was campaigning ahead of elections next month <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has survived an apparent bomb attack at a rally in the city of Bulawayo.<\/p>\n

Mr Mnangagwa said an object "exploded a few inches away from me - but it is not my time".<\/p>\n

Video footage from White City Stadium shows an explosion happening close to Mr Mnangagwa as he was leaving the stage having addressed supporters.<\/p>\n

While the president was unhurt, state TV reports that Vice-President Kembo Mohadi has suffered a leg injury.<\/p>\n

Mr Mnangagwa says he has visited the injured in hospital. He condemned the violence as senseless and pleaded for unity.<\/p>\n

Skip Twitter post by @edmnangagwa <\/p>\n

\n

This afternoon, as we were leaving a wonderful rally in Bulawayo, there was an explosion on the stage. Several people were affected by the blast, and I have already been to visit them in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u2014 President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) June 23, 2018<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Report <\/p>\n

End of Twitter post by @edmnangagwa<\/p>\n

Mr Mnangagwa came to power last November, ousting his former mentor Robert Mugabe.<\/p>\n

The president was in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city and an opposition stronghold, to campaign for his Zanu-PF party ahead of nationwide elections taking place on 30 July.<\/p>\n

"People started running in all directions and then immediately the president's motorcade left at a very high speed," an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.<\/p>\n

The elections are the first in Zimbabwe since Mr Mugabe was ousted after 37 years in power.<\/p>\n

Presidential spokesman George Charamba issued a statement confirming Mr Mnangagwa was safe and recalling: "There have been multiple attempts on the president's life over the past five years."<\/p>\n

It is not clear how severe the injuries to Second Vice-President Kembo Mohadi are.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe's First Vice-President, Constantino Chiwenga suffered minor injuries, Reuters news agency reports.<\/p>\n

His wife, Marry, was also injured and pictures on social media showed the president visiting her in hospital.<\/p>\n

Image copyright EPA
Image caption Red Cross personnel evacuate an injured army member from the rally <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Zimbabwe Herald newspaper described the explosion as an assassination attempt on the president.<\/p>\n

State broadcaster ZBC also reported that Zanu PF national chairman Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, political commissar Engelbert Rugeje and some ZBC crew members were also injured.<\/p>\n

The US Embassy in Harare condemned the attack.<\/p>\n

Skip Twitter post by @usembassyharare <\/p>\n

\n

We condemn e attack at e ZANU-PF rally in Byo this afternoon. Political violence in any form is unacceptable & contrary 2 e positive progress required 2 move Zim forward as it seeks 2 take its place on the global stage. Our thoughts & prayers go out 2 e victims & their families.<\/p>\n

\u2014 U.S. Embassy Harare (@usembassyharare) June 23, 2018<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Report <\/p>\n

End of Twitter post by @usembassyharare<\/p>\n

More on Zimbabwe:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Will age be a factor in Zimbabwe's poll? <\/li>\n
  • Have Zimbabwe's generals turned into democrats?<\/li>\n
  • Zimbabwe profile<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Who is Emmerson Mnangagwa?<\/h2>\n
    Media playback is unsupported on your device
    Media captionEmmerson Mnangagwa: Who is the man known as the \u2018crocodile\u2019?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
      \n
    • Known as "the crocodile" because of his political shrewdness - his Zanu-PF faction is "Lacoste"<\/li>\n
    • Received military training in China and Egypt<\/li>\n
    • Tortured by Rhodesian forces after his "crocodile gang" staged attacks<\/li>\n
    • Helped direct Zimbabwe's war of independence in the 1960s and 1970s<\/li>\n
    • Became the country's spymaster during the 1980s civil conflict, in which thousands of civilians were killed, but has denied any role in the massacres, blaming the army<\/li>\n
    • Accused of masterminding attacks on opposition supporters after 2008 election<\/li>\n
    • Says he will deliver jobs, and seen as open to economic reforms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The 'crocodile' who snapped back<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Image copyright EPAImage caption President Mnangagwa (centre) was campaigning ahead of elections next month Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has survived an apparent bomb attack at a rally in the city<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}