(Jakarta) Indonesian firefighters extinguished the last flames of the fire that ravaged a military ammunition warehouse on the outskirts of Jakarta on the night of Saturday to Sunday, after a series of explosions, the army said.
The first explosion was heard around 6 p.m. (7 a.m. Eastern) Saturday at a depot used to store expired ammunition inside a military compound in Bekasi, an eastern suburb of the capital.
Twenty-seven fire trucks were deployed and firefighters managed to put out the blaze at 3:45 a.m. Sunday.
“We can confirm that the fire has been extinguished,” said Mohamad Hasan, military chief of the city of Jakarta, during a televised press conference, specifying that firefighters were still mobilized to prevent new fires from starting.
“Praise God, there have been no casualties so far,” he added.
Authorities had evacuated nearby residents to safer areas and most of them have since returned to their homes.
According to the military chief, the warehouse was not supplied with electricity and the explosion could have been spontaneously caused by “expired ammunition”.