This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Pentagon confirmed on Sunday that an explosion had occurred at a US military base in Japan. No injuries were reported.

Video posted to YouTube appeared to show the explosion. A Department of Defense spokesman later said the blast happened just after midnight local time “at a building on a US army post, the Sagami Depot in the city of Sagamihara … about 25 miles south-west of Tokyo”.

In the statement emailed to the Guardian, navy commander Bill Urban added: “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.”

The building that exploded was storing compressed nitrogen, oxygen, Freon and air, a statement issued by the US Army Japan said. Photos taken after daybreak and released by the Army show dozens of gray canisters lying on the floor, and what looks like mangled storage racks.

The walls of the one-story, concrete building remain intact, but the windows and doors are damaged and about half of the roof collapsed, the army said

The Sagami depot is home to the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, concerned with army supply and logistics including the management of chemicals and ammunition.

The local fire department said it received a call just after midnight of an explosion at a US army depot where it said “dangerous material” was stored, and sent firefighters.

It added that the fire had subsided and there was no danger of it spreading. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, the fire department said.

A US army spokesman subsequently told Reuters the building where the explosion occurred did store any hazardous material.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Japanese television footage appears to show the explosion at the US army’s Sagami Depot.

Toner added that no troops lived at the depot, which is the workplace of an estimated 200 personnel.

In Japan in 2011, the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion assisted in recovery and aid efforts after a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.