Explosion kills at least 15 in Guinea

At least 15 people have died and some 500 have been injured in a series of explosions near a military barracks in Equatorial Guinea.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said the blasts, in the main city of Bata, were caused by negligence around the storage of dynamite at the barracks,

Nguema said in a statement that the impact of the explosion caused damage in almost all the houses and buildings in Bata, and called for international aid.

He added that the incident may have occurred after farmers burned fields surrounding the barracks.

In a tweet, France’s Ambassador Olivier Brochenin sent his condolences to the victims, describing the event as a “catastrophe”.