[Breitbart] A string of huge explosions destroyed a military base in the Equatorial Guinea city of Bata on Monday, killing up to 20 people and causing over 600 injuries. According to President Teodoro Obiang, the earth-shattering kabooms were caused by "negligent handling of dynamite."
"The impact of the earth-shattering kaboom caused damage in almost all the houses and buildings in Bata," Obiang said. Photos from across the city showed rooftops ripped off houses and buildings severely damaged by the shock waves.
The Defense Ministry issued a statement that claimed the earth-shattering kabooms were caused by ammunition exploding due to a fire in a weapons depot. Obiang said the fire was due to "stubble-burning by farmers in their fields," while "the negligence of a unit charged with the care and protection of stores of dynamite and explosives" contributed to the blast.
The toll from accidental explosions that rocked a military camp in Equatorial Guinea and the surrounding area rose sharply on Monday to 98 dead and 615 wounded, the vice president said.
The blasts on Sunday, involving ammunition stocks and explosives at the camp in the country's economic hub Bata, devastated buildings at the compound and countless houses in surrounding residential areas.
"At the moment, we deplore 98 dead and 615 injured," Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue wrote on his Twitter account. |