New satellite images reveal the extent of the destruction in Equatorial Guinea’s main city, Bata, after the explosions in an ammunition depot on Sunday.
The official death toll has reached 105, with at least 600 injured.
Human rights groups say the numbers of victims could be significantly higher and called for an independent investigation, with questions about why stocks of explosives were being stored in a populated area.
“Based on the number of bodies removed from the rubble,” says Human Rights Watch, quoting local observers, “the actual number of victims is much higher.”
The extent of the damage
Images captured before and after the event show the scale of the explosion.
The buildings inside the barracks were destroyed and the homes of people in the surrounding areas were also affected. The green spaces around the army complex have been destroyed.
Analyzing the satellite images of the last two decades, it is possible to see how quickly the population has expanded around the barracks.
When the complex was being built in 2004, it can be seen on Google Earth surrounded by a forest. Almost two decades later, the city expanded rapidly to that area.
“If you are a responsible government, you don’t have a military barracks where the bombs will be handled in the middle of the city. You don’t have families living in that area,” said Tutu Alicante, a human rights lawyer. the BBC.
What was the cause?
President Obiang Nguema said the base “caught fire because neighboring farmers cleared the land by setting it on fire, leading to the explosion.”
The president also blamed the “negligence” of the team responsible for guarding stocks of dynamite and explosives.
“Unverified reports circulating in the country claim that the fire was started by soldiers who were ordered to burn bushes and spread to the arsenal, or that it was started during training on the use of explosives that went wrong,” Human Rights said. Watch.
A cluster of fires was detected around the barracks site at 14:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on March 7 using NASA satellites.
It is around the same time as the explosions, but it is not possible to identify whether these fires were the cause or the result of the explosion.
The location of the explosion
The explosion occurred on the southeastern outskirts of the city.
Videos shared on social media showed a huge cloud of smoke visible from the city center.
An angle, shot from a hotel located near the coast, captured the aftermath of the explosion about 7 km (4 miles) away.
The images were also captured on the ground on the roads around the barracks, which showed extensive destruction of buildings in the military complex and the surrounding area. Many people – men, women and children – were seen fleeing the area.
“Most military barracks in Equatorial Guinea tend to house not only the soldiers themselves, but also their families,” said Alicante.
“What we know from the government is that there were supposed to be some workshops on – buildings where bombs were being deactivated, and that could have led to the accident.”
Are explosions becoming more common?
After the explosions, questions are being asked of the government about the management of explosives.
There are also concerns about the debris left over from such events. Social media users are posing with projectiles that have been scattered nearby.
The Small Arms Survey, based in Switzerland, compiles data on the number of unplanned explosions at ammunition locations around the world.
Between 2010 and 2019, it recorded 242 incidents worldwide.
These included:
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Africa – 39
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Americas – 16
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Asia – 116
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Europe – 70
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Oceania – 1
Five countries were responsible for a third of all incidents: Russian Federation (28), Syria (20), Iraq (15), Ukraine (15) and Yemen (13), says the survey.
“West Asia, a sub-region characterized by the intensification of armed conflicts, was the site of 38% of the total globally documented unplanned explosions in munitions sites (UEMS) in the period 2015-19, and was responsible for most of recent growth in UEMS, which were also up in West Africa, “he adds.
The most common causes of unplanned explosions were “failure to take into account external and environmental influences and events” and “handling errors and inappropriate working practices”.
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