Equatorial Guinea explosions highlight need for stockpile management
CISR
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(Defence Web) There was a thunderous blast, flames shot into the sky and a dark cloud of smoke formed over a tree line near a military base in Equatorial Guinea.
Then came another explosion. And another.
More than 100 people were killed, including children, and at least 600 more injured by the explosions at Nkoantoma Military Base in Bata on 7 March 2021. Responders blamed the explosions on negligent handling of dynamite. Military depots holding explosives ignited when neighbors at nearby farms lit fires, Deutsche Welle reported.
The military camp was built in a forest far from the city, but Bata, with a population of more than 250 000, grew rapidly between 2004 and 2016. The area around the base became densely populated.