At least 20 killed and 600 wounded in blasts caused by ‘negligence’ in the storing of dynamite at a military base.
In Pictures
In Pictures: Devastation caused by Equatorial Guinea blasts
Death toll from explosions at military barracks in Equatorial Guinea rose to 98 on Monday.
![The explosions damaged almost all homes and buildings in Bata, a city of just over 250,000 people [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56750555.jpg?resize=1170%2C780)
9 Mar 2021
The death toll from a series of explosions at military barracks in Equatorial Guinea rose to 98 on Monday after volunteers searched in the rubble for bodies.
At least 615 people were injured in Sunday’s blasts which were caused by a fire at the Nkoantoma Military Base in the coastal city of Bata.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has attributed the accident to negligence related to the handling of dynamite and said the explosions damaged almost all homes and buildings in Bata, a city of just over 250,000 people.
Equatorial Guinea’s health ministry posted on Twitter that it had prepared a mental health brigade made up of psychiatrists, psychologists and nurses to attend to the victims of the blast.
“The damages are not only physical but also mental,” the ministry said.
![Military personnel inspect the damage in the aftermath of the explosions in Bata. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749737.jpg?fit=1170%2C780)
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![President Nguema attributed the accident to negligence related to the handling of dynamite and said the explosions damaged almost all homes and buildings in Bata. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749982.jpg?fit=1170%2C780)
![The blasts come as Equatorial Guinea, an oil producer, is suffering a double economic shock because of the coronavirus pandemic and a drop in the price of crude oil. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749588.jpg?fit=1170%2C746)
!["The impact of the explosion caused damage in almost all the houses and buildings in Bata," the president said in a statement. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749983.jpg?fit=1170%2C745)
![The aftermath of the explosion in Bata following the blasts on Sunday. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749985.jpg?fit=1170%2C747)
![The death toll rose to 98 on Monday with at least 615 people injured. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749984.jpg?fit=1170%2C780)
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![The blasts were caused by a fire at the Nkoantoma Military Base in the coastal city of Bata. [Jose Luis Abecara Aguesomo/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/h_56749734.jpg?fit=1170%2C780)
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Officials say 615 also wounded in explosions that destroyed buildings at military base and countless homes in Bata.
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