Overview
- A suspected World War II shell or mortar exploded under a stilt house in Biak Kota District, Biak Numfor, producing a large fireball, a mushroom-shaped smoke column and a crater.
- Police confirmed five bodies recovered and said three people remain missing while nearly 20 others were treated for mostly minor injuries.
- Rescue teams from Biak Numfor police, the Papua regional mobile brigade, military units and specialist squads cordoned the scene and are continuing searches and ordnance checks.
- CCTV and broadcast footage obtained from the area captured the detonation and the scale of damage, which flattened multiple homes and hurled debris through the neighborhood.
- Officials warned that wartime munitions still surface across Papua because of World War II fighting, raising calls for systematic clearance to prevent further civilian harm.