Indonesia’s Secretary of Defense (TNI) confirmed Monday that 13 people, including four military officers, were killed in the explosion.
TNI Information Director Major General Kristomei Sianturi said their bodies were evacuated to Pameungpeuk Regional General Hospital for autopsy and river disposal.
“We have coordinated with field officers to secure and clear the incident site as a precaution against other potential explosions,” he notified in a television interview in Jakarta on Monday.
He said the military would investigate the incident. “I’ll explain in detail later what caused the explosion,” he said.
Separately, General Marri Simanjuntak, the Chief of Staff of the Army, also confirmed the fatal explosion of the Ghat. He said the cause is under investigation.
According to the military, the explosion occurred at 9:30am local time, with an army officer trying to dispose of expired and unused ammunition at a location belonging to the Ghanas District Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).
“The Garut Bksda site is regularly used to dispose of expired ammunition,” Kristomei said.
He added that the ammunition was born from the Ammunition Depot No. 3 at the Indonesian Army Equipment Centre (Puspalad).
The four TNI officers killed in the accident were identified as Colonel Antonius Elmawan, Major Anda Rohanda, second Colonel Eli Dwy Priambodo and first private Aprio Setiawan.
The remaining victims were civilians – Agus bin Kasmin, Pian bin Obul, Aiyus Yibin bin Yonon, Anwar bin Yonon, Aiyus Risal bin Safro, Toto, Dadan, Rustiawan, Endan.
rhm/