Cambodia's Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Thursday that a technical issue combined with an extreme heatwave was blamed for a series of explosions at a military base that killed 20 soldiers and injured several others on April 27.

The blast burst out at an ammunition depot in the Third Regional Military Command in Chamkar Doung village of Kampong Speu province's Chbar Mon town when soldiers were unloading ammunition from trucks to warehouses.

"After a direct probe at the scene, the investigators from the Ministry of Defense found that the incident of the ammunition explosion on April 27, 2024 at the Third Regional Military Command in Kampong Speu province was a technical issue because the weapons were old and faulty, and the weather was hot," the statement said.

The ministry rejected fake news spread by the extremist opposition that claimed the blast was caused by rebellious soldiers or an act of terrorism.

Lieutenant General Yoeung Sokhon, commander of the Third Regional Military Command, said in a recent report that four buildings, three ammunition warehouses and one office facility, were totally destroyed and several military trucks damaged during the blast.

He added that 25 villagers' homes near the military base were also ruined.

Chan Yutha, a spokesman and secretary of state for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said last week that Cambodia had recorded the highest-ever temperature in this hot season in about 170 years. 

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