KIGALI: One person died and dozens were injured during a stampede at President Paul Kagame’s campaign rally, Rwanda’s national broadcaster reported, ahead of a vote widely expected to extend the incumbent’s 24-year iron-fisted rule.
Kagame has been Rwanda’s de facto ruler since the end of the 1994 genocide which claimed some 800,000 lives, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus.
President since 2000, the 66-year-old will face the same rivals as he did in 2017: the leader of the opposition Democratic Green Party, Frank Habineza, and former journalist, Philippe Mpayimana, who is running as an independent.
Campaigning kicked off on Saturday, with Kagame addressing rallies in Musanze and Rubavu in northern Rwanda on the weekend.
“One person died and 37 others were injured in a stampede that occurred during the RPF-Inkotanyi campaigns in Rubavu on Sunday,” the state-run Rwanda Broadcasting Agency reported, using the official name for Kagame’s party.
“The Ministry of Local Government asked those participating in the campaign to follow the instructions and regulations aimed at ensuring safety and security,” the broadcaster added.
Rwandan courts rejected appeals from prominent opposition figures Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire to remove previous convictions that effectively barred them from contesting.
The election commission also barred Kagame critic Diane Rwigara, saying she had failed to provide a criminal record statement as required, and had not met the threshold of acquiring 600 supporting signatures from citizens.
Elected by parliament in 2000 after the resignation of former president Pasteur Bizimungu, Kagame has won three elections with more than 90 percent of the ballot in 2003, 2010 and 2017, taking nearly 99 percent of votes in the most recent poll.
He has been praised for Rwanda’s economic recovery after the genocide but faces criticism over rights abuses and political repression.
One killed, dozens injured in Rwanda vote rally stampede
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One killed, dozens injured in Rwanda vote rally stampede
- Paul Kagame has been Rwanda’s de facto ruler since the end of the 1994 genocide which claimed some 800,000 lives, mostly Tutsis but also moderate Hutus
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
