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. Human Rights Watch has urged the government to conduct an independent probe.
“The most important thing we need right now is search and rescue,” said Tutu Alicante, the head of EG Justice, a human rights group based in the US.
“They were able to find people still alive in Lebanon up to a week after the disaster, and I hope more aid is coming,” he said, referring to the accidental 2020 blast at a Lebanese port that killed at least 178 people.
“The aid needs to be given directly to international and local NGOs – it must go to the people affected,” Alicante added.
France and Spain are sending supplies to the central African country, including staff, health kits and tents, while Israel and the US are on the ground to help with search and rescue.
State television TVGE said the death toll was at 105 after more bodies were found in the rubble.
“The blast caused widespread damage over an 800-meter radius. Initial assessments confirm that approximately 300 houses were destroyed at the military compound alone,” according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
🇬🇶#EquatorialGuinea #Bata Explosions
📣#FlashUpdate N.2: https://t.co/UeYG3tsIP7
💥Death toll climbs to 105; 615 people injured.
💥Blast caused widespread damage over an 800-meter radius. At least 300 houses destroyed.
En espagnol: https://t.co/9A5bVSOfiL #GuineaEcuatorial pic.twitter.com/OXTSskfL91
– OCHA W&C Africa (@OCHAROWCA) March 10, 2021
The UN agency also warns of unexploded projectiles and rockets that were scattered in the vicinity from the force of the explosion that could still detonate.
Many residents are reportedly fleeing to the centre of the country, fearing another blast.
Residents at a loss
According to Alicante, who has been in constant contact with residents since the blast, people are desperately looking for loved ones missing since Sunday. Many people who live around the military base made a living providing goods and services to the soldiers stationed there.
“They have now lost everything – their homes, their jobs – they don’t know where to go for their next meal or who to ask for help,” said Alicante.
One option could be to open the hotels for those presently without a home, but the government has not made any arrangements for those stranded, he said.
“A local school in Bata rescued five children who were wandering around and couldn’t find their parents,” said Alicante.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema said a team of psychologists and psychiatrists were going to Bata to help people deal with the shock.
Alicante said he was doubtful this would transpire. “Psychologists? No one is going to go to Bata. I know two psychologists in Malabo, the capital, and the government is not going to take care of them if they go. So they won’t go.”
Blame game
TVGE broadcast images of mountains of rubble, with people walking around, dazed. Similar videos have emerged on social media.
While those already on the ground are trying to help the wounded and find the missing at the Nkoa Ntoma camp, accusations are flying over what caused the blast and who to blame.
President Obiang, who has ruled over the oil-rich yet impoverished country for 42 years, initially blamed the explosion on farmers clearing bush – but there are no farms in the city centre, says Alicante.
Obiang now claims the military was negligent in stocking ammunition in a residential area.
“This is a case of criminal negligence,” Alicante told RFI. “An independent investigation needs to be carried out as soon as possible,” he added.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging an independent probe, and calling on the government, which has a history of human rights abuses, not to exploit the tragedy.
“The government’s response to the explosion has laid bare its callous disregard for the well-being of Equatorial Guineans,” said senior HRW researcher Sarah Saadoun.
“Regardless of what caused the blast, Equatorial Guineans deserve to know why the military is storing explosives in the middle of a populated area,” she added.