Bomb Kills 2 at S. Africa Rugby Match

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A car bomb exploded Saturday outside a stadium as thousands of fans left a rugby match, killing two people, injuring 26 and setting nearby buildings ablaze, police and witnesses said.

The blast occurred on a street alongside Johannesburg’s Ellis Park stadium minutes after crowds began pouring from the complex. Police spokesman Pierre Louw said the bomb went off at 5:07 p.m.

The rugby players and virtually all the spectators at the game between Transvaal and Orange Free State were white. The stadium is the largest sports facility in the Johannesburg area and seats 75,000.

No Attendance Figures

No attendance figure was available. However, rugby is the most popular team sport among whites, and Saturday afternoon matches generally attract at least 25,000 fans.

Police said the two men killed were white and that several of the injured were in serious condition. The injured included 23 whites, two blacks and one Asian, police said.

Metal from the car that exploded was found up to 200 yards away from the blast, witnesses said. Several nearby cars and buses were extensively damaged, police said.

Surrounding buildings in the downtown area were set ablaze, but the fires were extinguished within minutes, witnesses said.

The explosion occurred one day after the government formally introduced tough new measures to enforce residential segregation. Critics said the laws could mean mass eviction of blacks from areas designated for whites only.

The legislation, which amends the 35-year-old Group Areas Act, is expected to be debated in Parliament at the end of August. It calls for the hiring of inspectors to check violations of the segregation law. It would also make it easier for authorities to confiscate property and to evict and prosecute people living in areas not designated for their race group.

The blast was the latest in a series of bombs aimed at civilian targets in Johannesburg and Pretoria, the capital.

There have been more than 90 bombings since the government declared a nationwide state of emergency in June, 1986. About 25 have occurred this year.

Police have blamed virtually all the attacks on the outlawed African National Congress guerrilla group, the main organization attempting to overthrow the white-minority-led government.

The ANC, based in Lusaka, Zambia, seldom confirms or denies involvement in specific attacks. However, recent statements by ANC leaders suggest that the organization now approves of attacks on civilians, reversing its longstanding policy of striking mostly at military and government targets.

On Thursday, 13 whites and one black were hurt by a bomb that exploded outside a fast-food restaurant in a Johannesburg shopping center at the Poyntons Building, which houses the air force and prison service headquarters.