TWO Spaniards have been killed and a third escaped unharmed after an explosion at an army barracks in Cape Verde.
The deceased are men aged 31 and 51 and said to be telecomms engineers working on a line fault near the Monte Txota base in Rui Vaz, inland from the country's capital of Praia on Santiago island.
According to the Capeverdian government, the attack was not related to drug-dealing or terrorism, but was likely to have been committed by a soldier 'for personal reasons', and that he had since gone to ground.
A car dumped near the site of the blast, containing eight Kalashnikovs and other firearms, was found.
Nine Capeverdians – eight soldiers and one civilian – were also killed in the attack at around noon local time (14.00hrs in mainland Spain) yesterday (Tuesday).
Reporters covering the blast say the country has been 'rocked' by the 11 deaths and 'people are very worried'.
“It's rare here for such things to happen,” one reporter said.
Crime in Cape Verde is statistically among the lowest in the world – even lower than in Spain, which is frequently hailed as Europe's safest nation.
Tourists are warned not to walk the streets of Praia at night and hotel receptionists will even escort them on foot to restaurants a few doors away, but this is largely due to the presence of a string of embassies in the coastal district which could be targeted by criminals.
Otherwise, Cape Verde is relatively problem-free and has not been touched by terrorism.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com