PAPUA REGION, INDONESIA — A suspected shell left over from World War II exploded under a stilt house in an Indonesian fishing village on Sunday afternoon, killing five people and wounding nearly 20. The blast occurred in Indonesia's eastern Papua region and destroyed nine homes.
The explosion emitted a ball of flames followed by a thick smoke column, according to footage broadcast on Kompas TV. At least 19 people were treated for minor injuries following the incident, and three individuals remain missing, Papua police spokesman Cahyo Sukarnito said.
"The source of the explosion is strongly suspected to have been a bomb or mortar left over from World War II," Sukarnito told AFP. Several body parts recovered from the scene have yet to be identified, he added.
Indonesia was a major battle zone during World War II when Japanese forces occupied what was then the Dutch East Indies, and Allied forces fought to retake control. Unexploded ordnance from that era occasionally surfaces across the archipelago, sometimes with deadly consequences. Sukarnito said authorities are investigating how the device came to be under the stilt house and whether it had been disturbed prior to detonation.
"We will provide further updates once the search for victims and the investigation have been completed," said Sukarnito.
In the previous year, nine civilians were among 13 people killed in West Java province when an explosion occurred as Indonesian troops attempted to dispose of rejected munitions by detonating them in a pit. That incident prompted calls from local officials for improved protocols in handling abandoned or unstable munitions.