Thirteen people have died during military ammunition disposal in Indonesia’s West Java on Monday.
This is the second such event involving expired military ammunition in the country in just over a year. In March last year, a massive fire broke out at a military depot, which caused a series of explosions.
According to the military spokesperson, Kristomei Sianturi, among the dead on Monday were nine civilians. Four were military personnel.
Authorities have launched an investigation into Monday’s blast. The probe will also try to determine how civilians were able to get near the ammunition disposal site, Wahyu Yudhayana, a second army spokesperson, said in a televised address.
The blast occurred in a field routinely used for ammunition disposal, military spokesperson Mr Sianturi said.
He said that local residents often gather in the area afterward to collect leftover scrap.
Mr Sianturi said the authorities have since cleared the site as a precaution against potential secondary explosions.
Major General Dedy Triyanto of the Indonesian Army’s information unit told Xinhua that the incident took place in Sagara village, Garut Regency in Cibalong District in West Java.
Cibalong District Head, Dianavia Faizal told local outlet Tempo that a week before the blast, the district administration had been notified by the Indonesian National Armed Forces about plans to destroy expired ammunition near the south coast, a site routinely used for such purposes.
He suggested that the high civilian death toll may have been due to people scavenging for leftover ammunition shells.
