KHARTOUM, Feb 23, An explosion at an ammunition dump in a military training centre in the south Sudanese town of Juba killed 24 people on Wednesday. An army statement said the blast was caused by a warehouse fire and said it did not believe "hostile action" was involved.

"The extreme rise in temperature led to the explosion of an ammunition dump in the city of Juba at 12.30 p.m. (0930 GMT) which led to the death of 24 people," a police statement released by the Interior Ministry said.

The statement said five people were injured.

The police statement said explosions lasted for an hour and a half, burning an area known as the customs market in the west of the town and damaging several neighbourhoods and official offices. But it said the situation was under control. --SPA 2345 Local Time 2045 GMT NNNN