FREETOWN - Residents of the Sierra Leonean capital showed increasing signs of anxiety yesterday over the threat of renewed military intervention to restore democracy 12 days after an army takeover.
Hundreds have fled the over-populated city believing it could be attacked by the Nigerian-led regional peace-keeping force, ECOMOG, over the weekend.
Some 81 bus passengers died on Thursday as their over-crowded vehicle fell off a bridge and plunged into a ravine near the northern town of Makeni, it was learned yesterday.
The coup leaders said on Friday they wanted all-party talks to find a peaceful solution to the standoff with Nigeria, which wants to restore civilian President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to power.