Ammunition depot blasts in Indonesia

An Indonesian flag is seen after an explosion took place in a Navy ammunition warehouse in Pondok Dayung island in Jakarta March 5, 2014. One soldier died and 87 soldier injured in the explosion at Pondok Dayung island said spokeman of Indonesian Armed Forces General Iskandar Sitompul, local newspaper reported on Wednesday. [Photo/Agencies]

JAKARTA - An ammunition warehouse belonging to the navy exploded in North Jakarta on Wednesday, killing one marine and seriously wounding 24 other people, mostly marines, according to the military.

The warehouse storing ammunition for long and short rifles, which belongs to the frogman force for west naval command, exploded at 10:30 am Jakarta time, Indonesian military spokesman Iskandar Sitompul said.

The spokesman said he initially got reports of 25 injuries, but with the death of one of them, the number becomes 24.

Yulianto, an navy officer in charge of the corpses unit in the Marine Hospital of Mitoharjo in Jakarta, also confirmed that one of the victims was dead.

"We've received one corpse of a marine named Iman," he told Xinhua at the hospital.

So far, 17 of the victims have been rushed into the hospital, most of them suffering from burns and broken bones, and ambulances are still arriving, according to an official at the hospital.

Some of the victims were brought to the medical center at the Tanjung Priok sea port in North Jakarta, according to Sitompul.

"It (the warehouse) is isolated in a small island in Pondok Dayung and is far from the community," Sitompul told Xinhua by phone.

"An investigation team has been established and now they are on the scene to investigate the accident," he said.