MAPUTO, March 23: An explosion at an arms depot near the international airport in Mozambique's capital has left 83 people dead and more than 300 injured, many of them children, the government said on Friday.

Exploding bombs, mines and rounds of ammunition ignited others around them in the country's largest arms depot late on Thursday, in a series of blasts that could be heard around the city.

Explosives rocketed from the armoury, near the impoverished neighbourhood of Magoanine, and landed on nearby houses which went up in flames, causing residents to flee in panic.

Soaring daytime temperatures are thought to have caused the blast.

“The number of people dead now stands at 83,” Minister of Health Ivo Garrido told national television station TVM. He earlier said 360 people had been injured.

Firefighters at the sealed-off area used massive hoses to dampen down the area around the armoury, while army and civilian volunteers stacked up mortar shells which had landed in nearby houses.—AFP