A series of blasts at a military barracks in the West African country Equatorial Guinea killed at least 20 people and injured more than 600 on Sunday, state television has reported.
This series of blasts shook the main city and halted life at neighboring residential areas.
The blasts were attributed to the “negligent handling of dynamite”, said the president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, on a statement. He also indicated that the incident may have occurred due to the burning of fields surrounding the barracks by farmers. The five consecutive explosions occurred at 4pm local time in the neighboring military barracks in Mondong Nkuantoma, the port city in Bata.
President has confirmed that, the impact from the blasts had damaged almost all the buildings in the main city of the country and called for international aid.
On the statement released late on Sunday, the Defense Ministry said that the explosion in the barracks were caused by a fire in a weapons depot. A full investigation will be conducted to find out the cause of the explosions.
State television showed huge columns of smoke rising from the blasts, people fleeing and crying in distress. They were screaming and running through the streets surrounded by debris, fume and rubble. Roofs of houses were ripped off, wounded people were being carried to hospitals amidst the mayhem and local hospitals were being crowded with injured patients lying on the floor awaiting treatment.
Many people are still missing and are thought to be buried under the rubble. The Health Ministry tweeted that its health workers are treating the injured at the site of the explosions and in medical facilities. The ministry also made a call for blood donors and volunteer health workers to help the wounded at the Regional Hospital de Bata.
People have also been evacuated within four kilometers of the city to avoid the harmful effect of the fume.
Bata is the largest city of Equatorial Guinea with around 800,000 people living there. Telephone communication between Bata and the capital city was cut off for several hours after the explosions.
The blasts were a shock for the oil-rich nation which is still battling the economic crisis caused by falling petrol prices due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
