A fire at a US base in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has caused a series of explosions, the military has said. There were no immediate reports of casualties at the base, known as Forward Operating Base Falcon, but the blasts shook the surrounding area. A statement from the US military blamed the explosions on ammunition "cooking off" in the heat of the fire.
Blasts from the base, in the south of the city, were heard for miles around. The explosions started at about 2300 (2100 BST) and continued for at least a half hour. Helicopters were seen flying over the area.
Last edited by Sandy on Sun Oct 22, 2006 4:15 am; edited 1 time in total BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A massive fire broke out at an ammunition depot at a U.S. base in southeast Baghdad on Tuesday night, setting off multiple explosions, the U.
S. military said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The blasts from ammunition detonating in the depot at Forward Operating Base Falcon went off for hours afterward, sending up huge flashes of light on the horizon that were visible several miles away in central Baghdad, where the force of the explosions could be felt. Some of the blasts came in rapid succession, sending fiery streaks into the air over the city. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, said Lt.
Col, Christopher C. Garver, a military spokesman. Authorities are "trying to determine the cause or any threat to the population," Garver said.
Falcon is located in a former commercial trucking depot in a sprawling industrial area at the southern entrance of Baghdad, near the violence-torn district of Dora, where U.S. troops have been focusing in a two-month-old sweep of the capital neighborhood-by-neighborhood aimed at rooting out militants and weapons.
"Given the number and the scale of these explosions - and this is a very large base with a large number of troops - casualties are a possibility," he said.
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