20120312
AFP
Thousands of people attended a memorial service Sunday for the victims of last weekend's munitions dump blasts in the Congo capital, as authorities announced a new death toll of 223.

Medard Milandu, who conducted the service, said 159 of the bodies had so far been identified.

An earlier toll said nearly 200 people were killed and more than 2,300 injured in the explosions, which destroyed hundreds of houses, leaving 14,000 people homeless.

Relatives of the victims took their places in six white tents opposite a pavilion for officials erected on the esplanade outside the Congress Centre in the capital.

The coffins of 145 victims arrived 10 at a time on lorry trailers shortly after 11:00 am (1000 GMT). The coffins were draped in Congo's green, yellow and red flag and adorned with wreaths.

Family members, many in tears, clutched photos of their dead relatives and crosses bearing their date of birth and death on Sunday March 4.

On the other side of the avenue separating the esplanade from the foreign ministry building, thousands of people, mostly in black or white, stood behind barriers put up for the ceremony. The tents were not big enough to accommodate all the mourners.

Congolese President Denis Sassou placed a wreath before an ecumenical service and the reading of a funeral oration by the minister of social affairs.

The coffins were then to be taken to the city's main cemetery for burial, where special burial chambers have been dug to receive them.

Sunday's memorial service marked the end of the official period of national mourning decreed on Tuesday.

On the day of the explosions, 35-year-old Gildas Assama Ndinga identified the body of his nephew, a sergeant in the regiment where the ammunition depot was located.

"I was able to mourn for a week," he said. "It's with sorrow I accompany him to his resting place. He'll be with us in spirit through his large family he left: six children and two wives."

Last Sunday's blasts, blamed on a short-circuit and fire, destroyed hundreds of homes around the depot. The homeless are being sheltered in reception centres while nearly 300 of the injured are still in hospital.

Authorities have warned that the death toll could continue to rise as recovery workers continue to pick through the rubble left by the explosions.

The Congolese Observatory for Human Rights has slammed leadership failures in the wake of the disaster "at all levels", highlighting the lack of victim support.