(Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is safe after an explosion at a stadium in Bulawayo where he was addressing a rally before next month’s elections, presidential spokesman George Charamba said by phone on Saturday.

“It sounded just like gunfire,” he said. “It appears to be an explosive device.”

Zimbabwe goes to the polls on July 30, the first since independence without Robert Mugabe at the helm, who was forced to step down after almost 40 years in power. The blast happened as Mnangagwa had finished addressing thousands of people, Associated Press reported, citing witnesses.

Several people -- including Vice President Kembo Mohadi and Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri as well as some of the VIP security personnel -- were injured in the explosion, and have been taken to hospital, the state-owned Herald newspaper reported on its website. The area around the stage has been cordoned off and evidence is being collected, the Harare-based Herald said, describing the blast as an attempt on the president’s life.

The attack on Mnangagwa comes after blast at a rally in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa only minutes after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had addressed tens of thousands of supporters. Mnangagwa has had multiple attempts on his life, the Herald cited Charamba as saying. Police still need to investigate what happened and will comment later, a spokeswoman said.

“There have been fatalities,” Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu said by phone, adding he is still waiting for more details. “It’s a shock.”

(Updates comment from presidential spokesman starting in first paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian Latham in Harare at blatham@bloomberg.net;Godfrey Marawanyika in Harare at gmarawanyika@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stefania Bianchi at sbianchi10@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels, Marthe Fourcade

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