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Equatorial Guinea: Portugal expresses its solidarity following explosions
6:21 CAT | 08 Mar 2021
Photo: Twitter / @nowel04
ortugal on Monday expressed solidarity with the government of Equatorial Guinea following Sunday’s explosions at a military barracks in the city of Bata, which caused at least 30 deaths and 600 injured.
“The Portuguese government presents its most heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic events that occurred in Bata, following the violent explosions in a weapons depot,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We express our full support and solidarity to the government of Equatorial Guinea at this very difficult time,” it added.
Several explosions in the armouries of a military barracks located in a residential area of Bata caused the death of at least 30 people and injuries to 600 others according to the latest data on the disaster, classified as accidental by the head of state, Teodoro Obiang.
The president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled this Central African country for almost 42 years, accused farmers in the vicinity of having allowed poorly controlled burning to spread to the barracks , considering that the soldiers guarding the arsenal were negligent.
Houses and buildings around the barracks were destroyed and huge concrete blocks were projected through the streets hundreds of metres away, according to footage from state television station TVGE.
According to the Health Ministry, many residents in neighbourhoods surrounding the barracks may still be under the rubble.
“My uncle, an officer in the camp, called us to say he had found the bodies of five members of his family who had been completely burnt,” said a Bata resident contacted by phone by Agence France Presse (AFP) on Monday, under anonymity.
“The houses continued to burn and we still heard small explosions,” another resident said.
A source from a civil society movement in Equatorial Guinea told Lusa that during this morning people from the neighbourhoods surrounding the barracks are being removed to the beach for fears of new explosions.
This information was confirmed by the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy (CPDS) party which, in a statement, said that as of 9 a.m. on Monday (8 a.m. in Lisbon), the military ordered the evacuation of the Nkolombong district, the most populated area of the city of Bata and adjacent to Nkuantoma, where the disaster occurred.
The Ministry of Defence said that an investigation had been opened to ascertain the causes of this tragic and regrettable event.
The head of state launched an appeal to the international community to support Equatorial Guinea in these moments made even more difficult by the combination of the economic crisis, due to the fall in oil prices, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Lusa questioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on whether, as a partner of the CPLP, Portugal would respond to the appeal by the authorities of Equatorial Guinea, but has not received a reply so far.
Equatorial Guinea, a country rich in resources but with large sections of the population below the poverty line, has been a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) since 2014.
Las personas desalojadas en los barrios de Bata pueden volver a (lo que quede de) sus casas.
España ha prometido ayuda de emergencia y el Gobierno de #GuineaEcuatorial se reune de manera extraordinaria para ver posibles ayudas a las familias afectadas pic.twitter.com/QKW2P2ixGd
— NCG (@nowel04) March 8, 2021
Bata é a principal cidade portuária da Guiné Equatorial, com uma população de mais de 250.000 residentes. Alegadamente, a explosão originada de explosivos em um armazém militar. Vídeo mostrando as pessoas em estado de choque após várias explosões atingirem a área. pic.twitter.com/QNPDeshajW
— 🔰Tati Cruz🔰 (@Taticru79846829) March 7, 2021
🔴An explosion left massive destruction in the capital of #Tropical #Guinea (#Bata) pic.twitter.com/vuszmqNw9r
— H.LB 🇱🇧 news (@HusseinS2004) March 7, 2021
Source: Lusa
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