Rodents blamed for blast in Philippines ammunition dump

Manila: Officials discounted sabotage as cause of the fire that gutted an ammunition dump in Southern Philippines on Friday and instead blamed the incident on "rodents" that had eaten into the explosive stockpile.

There were no reported casualties in the early morning explosion but the incident in Camp Siongco had merited a full military investigation and had caused the armed forces top brass to fly the same day to Awang in the province of Maguindanao.

"It was not sabotage nor any external source that caused the ignition that started the conflagration of an ammunition stock house," Army Spokesman Col Ernesto Torres said in a statement given to reporters in Camp Aguinaldo in suburban Quezon City.

Earlier military reports said the fire occurred at around 4.20am Friday and had gutted an ammunition dump inside Camp Siongco, just several metres away from the provincial airport in Awang.

"The building was totally destroyed, with everything that is inside either burned or exploded. There was also a slight damage on the roof of the adjacent ammunition house," Torres said.

An assessment report said out that rodents, preying on the exposed volatile primers and propellants, caused the propellant charges stored inside the stock house to ignite.