Fire at Chad military ammunition depot triggers blasts

By Mahamat Ramadane

N'Djamena (Reuters) -A fire at a military ammunition depot in Chad's capital N'Djamena triggered a series of blasts on Tuesday night, Foreign Affairs Minister Koulamallah Abderaman said, with witnesses saying at least one person was killed and several wounded.

A resident of a neighbourhood near the depot said he saw three wounded people on the street, two of which were rushed to hospital on motorbikes.

Media posted images of spent artillery shells that fell in people's homes. Another resident said his neighbour, a shopkeeper, was killed after a shell hit him.

"Loud blasts woke us up," resident Moustapha Adoum Mahamat told Reuters via telephone.

"Our house was shaking as if someone were shooting at us. Then we saw a big fire at the military camp and smoke and things exploding in the air," he said. "We could see artillery fly over us."

A Reuters witness saw flames and heard explosions for about an hour and said smoke was spreading around the city.

The fire broke out just a few kilometres away from Chad's main international airport, which authorities said was not affected.

(Reporting by Mahamat Ramadane; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Bate Felix and Stephen Coates)