Explosions rock Equatorial Guinea, killing at least 20

Explosions rocked the central African country of Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, resulting in at least 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries, according to news reports.

Blasts, reportedly on a military base, shook the country’s largest city, Bata, leading roofs to be ripped off nearby homes, Reuters reported, citing local television station TVGE. 

TVGE reported that at least 20 people died and at least 420 people were injured, according to Reuters and The Washington Post.  

The nation’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare officially confirmed 17 fatalities and 420 injuries and declared a health emergency, noting that many were still missing and assumed to be under rubble, according to The New York Times.  

The Post reported that TVGE read a statement from President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago that called the explosions an “accident” caused by “negligence” by those guarding dynamite and munitions. 

The injured were being taken to at least three city hospitals, and officials and TVGE requested that people donate blood for the victims. TVGE aired video of authorities taking people out of the rubble and trucks filled with survivors heading to a hospital.

Equatorial Guinea is known for producing oil, although the nation has endured economic troubles amid the COVID-19 pandemic and drop in oil prices, Reuters noted.