Explosions Rock U.S. Army Storage Depot Near Tokyo

Washington: Explosions of still-undetermined origin rocked a United States Army storage depot early Monday near Tokyo, the Pentagon said. No injuries were reported.

Firefighters at the Sagami Depot in the city of Sagamihara, about 25 miles southwest of Tokyo, were working to extinguish a blaze that followed the explosions, officials said.

"There are no reports of injury, and base firefighters and first responders are currently fighting the resulting fire to prevent its spread to nearby buildings," said Cmdr. Bill Urban, a Defense Department spokesman.

Masuo Kobayashi, a spokesman for the Sagamihara fire department, said a worker at the Army depot called around 12:45 a.m. local time. The fire department sent 13 firefighting teams, including more than 10 fire engines, Kobayashi said. Several hours later, the fire still had not been extinguished.

According to the Japanese broadcaster NHK, a worker at the Army depot told the fire department that the warehouse held oxide containers, and those seemed to have caught fire.

No evacuation advisories were issued for nearby residents, and the possibility that the fire could expand or do further damage was thought to be low.

Video footage taken by a resident about 300 yards away from the depot showed a large, orange, smoldering glow as bursts of light resembling fireworks flashed through the night sky.

The sounds of explosions continued for nearly 15 minutes.

"When I was about to go to bed, I heard the sound of explosion and saw sparks coming off," the woman who recorded the video said. "It smelled like gunpowder or something like that."