A man, his wife and their child were Sunday night killed by people armed with machetes at Muyange in Bubanza province, 30km west of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, the police said on Monday.

"A man, his wife and their child were intercepted at Muyange around 20:00 (18:00 GMT) as they were walking to their home. The criminals had machetes that they used to kill the victims," said Burundian Police Deputy-Spokesman Moise Nkurunziza.

He added that three suspects had been arrested for further investigations.

In a related development, Moise Nkurunziza said that unidentified persons Sunday night blasted two grenades at Kamenge in the north of the Burundian capital Bujumbura.

"Those grenade explosions did not make any casualties as they exploded in the middle of the road while there was no traffic by 22:00 (20:00 GMT) when the explosions happened," said Nkurunziza.

The explosions happened at a time when people were celebrating Christmas.

source: Xinhua