Chinese Citizens Evacuated to Safety from Bouake

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, September 28, 2002

Chinese Citizens Evacuated to Safety from Bouake

Mr. Jiang Peng and other six Chinese left Cote D'Ivoire's second largest city Bouake on September 26 and arrived unscathed at Yamoussoukro, the cocoa-producing country's administrative capital.

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Mr. Jiang Peng and other six Chinese left Cote D'Ivoire's second largest city Bouake on September 26 and arrived unscathed at Yamoussoukro, the cocoa-producing country's administrative capital.

In an interview with Xinhua reporter on September 27, Jiang Peng, an employee of China's YTO International Ltd said that after French rescue troops and government reached a cease-fire accord with Cote D'Ivoire's mutinies, an American friend informed him about this.

About 2 pm of September 26, French troops entered into the district where he lived, then he and six Chinese left Bouake.

Jiang said that due to the turbulence, all gas stations in the city are closed. The oil in his car almost run out, thanks to a foreign friend's help, he and another six Chinese citizens could leave the city under the protection of French soldiers and bound for Yamoussoukro.

But some people of other countries were afraid of their property being robbed, so they refused to leave.

In the evening of the day, some 1,000 Chinese citizens arrived in the country's capital.

Jiang said that there are not more than 20 Chinese in Bouake, most of them are private business operators. Because they live widely scattered, he failed to contact with others.

He learned that French troops will continue to help other foreigners willing to leave. The evacuation will end at 6 PM, September 27, local time.

Mutiny in Cote D'Ivoire failed

In the morning of September 19, some 750 soldiers launched a coup in Bouake and Korhogo.

In the afternoon of September 19, Defense Minister Moise Lida Kouassi announced the ruler of the mutiny forces was shot dead, government troops basically brought the situation under control.

The government of Cote d'Ivoire on September 19 started imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew nationwide after heavy fighting erupted in the early hours in main cities in the West African country.

On September 20, President Laurent Gbagbo, suspended his visit to Italy, cutting short his tour after hearing of the incident.

From September 21 to 22, the two cities were still under control by the mutinies.

In the afternoon of September 23, Prime Minister Affi N'Guessan went on state radio blaming the shooting on about 750 soldiers protesting plans to demobilize them later this year.

On September 26, Defense Minister Moise Lida Kouassi announced that some 270 have been dead and 400 injured.

Cote D'Ivoire was ever French colony, so far, there are still some 20,000 French people living there, Americans and others also live there.

Cote d'Ivoire is the world's top cocoa producer with an annual yield of about 1 million tons or 30 percent of the world's total cocoa output.

In consideration of those people's safety, the French government sent a troop on September 26 to help its people evacuate to safety.

By PD Online Staff Li Yan

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