Rights groups have called for a transparent and independent investigation into a series of massive explosions in Equatorial Guinea’s main city of Bata that flattened a military camp and nearby residential areas, killing scores of people and causing widespread destruction.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled the oil-rich country with an iron fist for 42 years, blamed the military for “negligence” in stocking ammunition so close to populated areas.
On Wednesday, state television reported 105 people were killed and 615 were wounded by the conflagration at the camp of Nkoa Ntoma on Sunday.
But Human Rights Watch (HRW), citing Equatorial Guinea-focused human rights group EG Justice, said that “based on the number of bodies pulled from the rubble, the actual number of victims is much higher”.
Blasts that levelled a military camp and the surrounding populated area in Equatorial Guinea at the weekend claimed far more lives than the official death toll of 105, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, urging an independent investigation into the disaster.
A number of countries have arrived on the scene in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, to help the government with rescue services three days after a blast at the barracks in the centre of town killed more than 100 and maimed 615.
Equatorial Guinea Military Camp Blasts Toll Rises To 105 channelstv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from channelstv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.