SANAA, 7 September 2006 — Powerful explosions rocked a cluster of ammunition depots in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden yesterday but no casualties were reported, police and witnesses said.
Residents of the Khur Maksar neighborhood of Aden said several explosions were heard from the Jabal Hadeed mountain, where old weapons were warehoused.
A government source said an explosion hit the storage facility as officers prepared some ammunition for scrapping.
“The blast was the result of an electrical spark at the storage facility where old weapons are stored at the Jabal Hadeed Camp,” Aden’s Governor Ahmad Al-Kahlani told the ruling party’s electronic newspaper Almotamar.net.
Kahlani said the camp, which is close to the Aden port, was being evacuated when the blast took place.
Witnesses told Arab News by phone that they saw smoke billowing from the mountain and said the blasts were ongoing.
Several fire trucks were seen heading in the direction of the flames, said one witness.
Police officials said there had been no casualties. “No one was killed or injured — the site of the blasts was isolated and far from residential areas,” one official said.
A similar explosion hit the facility in the 1990s without causing any casualties.
