At least 17 people have died and hundreds more have been injured in a series of explosions in Equatorial Guinea, the health ministry says.

Some 420 people were injured following the blasts, which happened near a military barracks in the main city of Bata on Sunday.

The blasts were caused by “negligence” relating to the storage of dynamite at the barracks, the president said.

Images on social media showed huge plumes of smoke and widespread damage.

State television showed people looking for survivors in the rubble and lifting up debris from collapsed buildings.

In a series of tweets, the health ministry asked for volunteer health workers to go to Bata Regional Hospital. It has also asked for blood donations due to the high number of casualties.

It listed three hospitals where the “seriously and very seriously injured” were being transferred.

Some local hospitals have been overwhelmed by the number of patients admitted, TVGE reported. 

It broadcast images of wounded people lying on the floor of a crowded hospital.

Video posted on social media of the aftermath of the explosions showed a chaotic scene of distressed people fleeing as smoke drifted over the area.

“We hear the explosion and we see the smoke, but we don’t know what’s going on,” one local resident, Teodoro Nguema, told the AFP news agency.

Equatorial Guinea is the current home of former president Yahya Jammeh and his family.