Up to 20 were killed and more than 600 people were also injured in explosions after ‘negligent handling of dynamite’ at military base at the military barracks in the Mondong Nkuantoma neighbourhood.

As many as 20 people have been killed after a series of large explosions at a military base in the city of Bata in Equatorial Guinea.

More than 600 people were also injured in the explosions at the military barracks in the Mondong Nkuantoma neighbourhood.

In a statement on national television, President Teodoro Obiang said the blasts were caused by “negligent handling of dynamite” at the base.

The defence ministry released a statement late on Sunday saying that a fire at a weapons depot in the barracks caused an explosion of high-calibre ammunition.

State television showed a huge plume of smoke rising above the explosion site as crowds fled, with many people crying out “we don’t know what happened, but it is all destroyed”.

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The health ministry said medics treated the injured at the site, but it is feared people are missing under the rubble.

The TVGE news channel called on people to donate blood and said hospitals in the Central African nation were full of people injured in the explosions.