Crowd In Pool Panic; 18 Drown

Soldiers opened fire near a crowded public swimming pool Sunday in the Central Africa nation of Congo, setting off a panic in which at least 18 people drowned, Red Cross workers said.

Ndombele Matunu, a Red Cross worker who witnessed the melee, said more than 100 people had been swimming in the pool in Nsele, about 40 miles from Kinshasa.

A group of young women who had been in the pool accused some young men of trying to molest them under the water, and notified soldiers in the area.

The soldiers approached and fired shots in the air in hopes everyone would freeze and they could find the culprits.

Instead, the crowd panicked and started fighting to reach the side of the pool and escape. Those who died, 10 men and eight women, were trapped below the water.