The child was hit by several bullets and would die on the way to the district hospital in Gondola, where he had been transferred with other wounded.
“We were approaching Inchope and suddenly we heard shots. In the midst of the excitement, I myself realized that I had been shot, ”said Noémio Gonçalves, a survivor, while receiving medical care at the district hospital in Gondola.
“We only heard gunshots, shortly after we restarted the trip,” described Esmeralda Goliate, another survivor.
Unknowns fired rounds of bullets at the bus five kilometers from Inchope, next to national road 1 (N1), Manica province, at 06:00 local time (05:00 in Lisbon).
The attack took place in a densely populated area with no history of ambushes.
The Nagi carrier bus and passengers had spent the night in Gorongosa village, from where they left around 05:00 (04:00 in Lisbon) to complete the trip from Nampula (north) to Maputo, capital (south).
At least 24 people have been shot dead since August 2019 in armed attacks in the center of the country attributed to dissident guerrillas of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).
The attackers will belong to a self-proclaimed Renamo Military Junta, led by Mariano Nhongo, a former guerrilla leader, who challenges Renamo president Ossufo Momade and the terms of the 2019 peace agreements.
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