Mozambique Needs $24m To Store Weapons After Blast

Mozambique needs $24 million to improve weapons storage.

Mozambique needs $24 million to improve weapons storage after a recent explosion at a military armoury killed 101 people and wounded hundreds, Defense Minister Tobias Dai said on Wednesday.

"(The money) is necessary for the building of silos in different sites across the country that have already been identified, and the government is currently working to raise funds," he told Reuters.

Victims have reacted with outrage to a series of blasts last week that sent rockets and artillery shells into residential sections of the city still scarred by a bloody 16-year war that ended in 1992.

Officials blamed the disaster on high temperatures but expect investigators to verify its causes in the next two weeks. But many local residents believe the crisis would have been prevented through better weapons management.

The government has announced it will not compensate families who lost loved ones or those maimed.

Clean-up crews working to clear the scene recovered more than 3,000 mostly Soviet-made BM-24 rockets which measure one metre (yard) long and weigh 112 kg (246 pounds) and officials said more weapons will be destroyed.