20110409
reuters

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Residents of Abidjan headed out of Ivory Coast's main city by foot or ramshackle bus on Saturday, seeking safety, medicine or simply something to eat.

The trickle of Abidjanais through the city's northern corridor is a sign that many doubt conditions will improve soon, as a violent battle for power between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara drags on.

In the northern district of Gesco, kiosks selling mobile phone credits, shops and restaurants, were all shut.

A nightclub promising dancing "night and day" was locked with padlocks, its windows boarded up.

The only sign of life on the streets was people searching for food or water, alone or in small groups.

"People started leaving a couple of weeks ago when the fighting started. They went out of Abidjan to live with their family, or to safer parts of the city," said Alassane Bamba, 20, pushing a wheelbarrow with four 20-litre jerrycans of water.

"At the moment, here at least, it is quiet. We know there are militias but they stay inside, they are hiding. We don't know where they are."

The fragility of that calm was illustrated graphically 20 minutes later by loud explosions barely one kilometre away.