/ 1 January 1995

Three dead in Burundi as police fire on Cup revellers

Police launched a grenade and fired shots into a crowd celebrating Italy’s victory in the World Cup, killing three people and wounding 17, officials said on Monday.

Police were investigating Sunday’s shooting, Colonel Pierre-Claver Gahungu said.

”We will let you know when we have investigation results,” he said.

The mayor of Bujumbura’s northern district said police shot blindly into the crowd after the group started setting off fireworks.

”People were celebrating Italy’s victory, firing fireworks in the street,” Cibitoke Mayor Eric Masumbuko told the Associated Press. ”Police officers first launched a grenade in the group and then started firing guns on them.”

Two people died at the scene and another died on Monday morning, he said.

The Central African nation is emerging from a 12-year civil war that has killed more than 250 000 people, most of them civilians who died of disease and hunger. — Sapa-AP