(Monrovia) A car drove into a crowd of supporters of politician Joseph Boakai on Monday evening, declared winner of the presidential election in Liberia a few hours earlier, causing at least ten victims, dead according to the Unity Party, injured according to the police .
“Ten people are dead as I speak to you,” Mohammed Ali, spokesperson for Mr. Boakai’s party, the Unity Party, told AFP, adding that he had little doubt about an act deliberate by the driver, who fled.
Police official Melvin Sacko said the vehicle drove into people and caught fire. He did not comment on the exact number of victims but indicated that at least 16 people, 12 men and four women, had been hospitalized in the same establishment.
Police are trying to locate other victims in other hospitals, he told AFP by telephone.
Videos posted on social media show many bloodied people lying on the ground, some receiving assistance, others limp.
These facts occurred the same evening of the proclamation by the national electoral commission of Mr. Boakai’s narrow victory in the second round of the presidential election on November 14 against the outgoing George Weah.
Supporters of Mr. Boakai were celebrating the victory in front of party offices in the center of the capital when, between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. local (and GMT), a vehicle parked nearby flashed its headlights, then turned off his lights and rushed into the crowd, Mohammed Ali reported, relying on testimonies.
“We don’t know who did this, but we find it hard to believe that the car had a mechanical problem or that its brakes failed since we were told it was parked [tout près]made beacons to the supporters and rushed towards them,” the spokesperson said.
When questioned, the police official replied that “the investigation is still ongoing”. “We don’t know where the driver is,” Mr. Sacko added.
Liberia’s foreign partners praised the peaceful conduct of the vote. But the election was marked by concerns of violence after the announcement of the results in a country that emerged in 2003 from years of civil war.