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| - Three weeks after explosives denotated accidentally at a military camp in Equatorial Guinea, killing scores of civilians living nearby, desperate survivors are depending on a Spanish charity for aid. Around 200 children jostle to receive a ration of noodles just a stone's throw from the camp in the city of Bata that was razed by the explosion on March 7. The official death toll is 107, though international rights group Human Rights Watch said three days after the disaster that the actual figure was far greater. Crammed into a tent in suffocating heat, the children cry or squabble, some keeping an eye on younger siblings. The aid group Remar, a Christian charity from former colonial power Spain, has deployed volunteers to distribute more than 500 hot meals a day. Countries as far afield as Israel, the US and Qatar have also sent relief aid to the disaster site in Bata, the small central African country's economic hub. The city is home to around 800,000 of the 1.4 million total population in Equatorial Guinea, a state that enjoys oil and gas wealth but where most people live below the poverty line. Remar itself, only 300 metres (yards) from the military camp, suffered serious damage in the conflagration, with ceilings collapsed and windows blown out. At the site with several of his brothers was two-year-old Justo Ela, who said: "I'm here because I'm hungry." The children were the first to be served, with the adults, mainly women and a few elderly people, patiently waiting their turn. "We try to help," a volunteer, Rufino Dyombe, told AFP, adding that people were arriving in ever greater numbers. Many of the survivors lost everything. They quickly left temporary shelters -- mainly schools -- set up by religious groups shortly after the disaster because they lacked the necessary inputs, according to witnesses. Instead the survivors sought shelter in the community. The beneficiaries of Remar's largesse were already desperately poor before the disaster. The government said it had earmarked 10 billion CFA francs (15 million euros, $18 million) in emergency assistance, but the survivors say they have yet to receive any. Those who have remained among the gutted homes are struggling to put their lives back together. Some have dangerous damage to their homes which they can hardly afford to repair. Nearby, a police checkpoint keeps tabs on comings and goings, while bulldozers continue to clear away the massive debris. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has held a tight grip on power in Equatorial Guinea for almost 42 years, ordered an investigation into the blast. He blamed it on a farmer carrying out slash-and-burn land clearance, while accusing leaders at the military camp of "negligence" for storing explosives so close to homes. sam-amt/gd/pma
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