BUJUMBURA, Nov 20: The body of the World Health Organization representative in Burundi, who went missing from his home on Tuesday, was later pulled out of Lake Tanganyika, Burundi’s general prosecutor said.

A body spotted in the lake by fishermen had been identified as that of Dr Kassi Manlan, who was from the Ivory Coast, Gerard Ngendabanka said.

He said blood had been found inside Manlan’s house in central Bujumbura .

“Up until now, and until we have proof to the contrary, there’s strong reason to think this is a crime,” he said.

A U.N. official who declined to be named said it appeared Manlan had been hit on the head. He said there were no traces of bullets.

Fighting and kidnappings in war-torn Burundi have intensified since a new government, aimed at sharing power between ethnic Tutsis and Hutus, was installed on November 1.

Burundi’s civil war between rebels of the Hutu majority and the Tutsi-dominated army began in 1993 and has killed more than 200,000 people.—Reuters