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Malabo: At least 20 people were killed and 600 injured on Sunday in explosions caused by “negligence” that also destroyed a military camp and neighboring neighborhoods in Equatorial Guinea.
The country’s president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, had previously announced that the explosions had killed at least 15 people and injured more than 500, before the death toll continued to rise.
The president accused the farmers of allowing a fire to spread and the army of neglecting control of the camp’s weapons arsenal.
Four powerful explosions destroyed buildings in this camp, located in the economic capital of Bata, in addition to countless houses around it.
The country’s president said in a statement released by state television that the matter is related to “an accident caused by the carelessness of the unit in charge of storing explosives, dynamite and ammunition,” indicating that the bombings resulted in deaths and injuries.
Images broadcast by TVGA showed destroyed and burned buildings, and people, including children, were pulled out of the rubble, while the injured lay on the floor of a hospital.
The station showed clips showing a cloud of thick smoke that it said emanated from the Nkua Ntuma military camp in the economic capital of Bata.
The station reported that the first explosion occurred on Sunday afternoon.
“We heard the explosion and saw the smoke, but we don’t know what is happening,” one of the residents, Teodoro Nguema, told AFP.
At first it was not possible to determine the cause of the explosions, but a reporter from the station pointed to reports that the explosion was likely to have occurred in the camp’s weapons depots.
The journalist explained that the camp includes elements of the special forces in the army and the paramilitary gendarmerie.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, 75, has ruled Equatorial Guinea with an iron fist since he assumed the presidency after a coup in 1979.
His son Mange, the vice president in charge of defense and security responsibilities, appeared at the scene, examining the destruction, accompanied by his Israeli bodyguards, according to the television broadcast.
Manghe is seen as his father’s successor.
About 800,000 of the country’s 1.4 million people live in Bata, the largest city in the oil and gas-rich country, but most of them suffer from poverty.
While Bata is on the mainland, the capital is on the island of Bioko off the coast of West Africa.
(AFP)
