The final demolition of hazardous items from Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) storage facility Camp Ngashi, following the explosion there in June 2007, took place on 29 January.
In addition to killing three people, injuring 94 and displacing over 200 families, the blast seriously damaged schools, government and military facilities, and left unexploded ordnance (UXO) scattered around the densely populated town and along the Congo River. The cause of the explosion remains unknown, despite an inquiry by the FARDC.
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MAG Field Coordinator Abdikadir Hassan (top), Technical Field Manager Emmanuel Brument (bottom left) and team prepare munitions for demolition at Bongonde, 36km from Mbandaka |
The initial explosion at around 0300 hours was followed by a number of subsequent explosions as items of explosive ordnance were set off as a result of the fire, which remained ablaze as late as 0900 hours the following morning. The facility housed large and small scale weapons as well as a military hospital. The ammunition stored there ranged from small arms ammunition, through to a range of different calibre mortars and rockets, up to large high explosive aerial bombs. The intensity of the fire caused several large explosions and ejection of ammunition up to 3.5 kilometres outside of the camp.
MAG immediately mounted an emergency response, with teams supervising the clean-up and clearance of all dangerous areas in and around Camp Ngashi. The first phase, using four technical survey and two clearance teams to clear civilian areas within the explosive footprint, was completed within six days, during which over 200 items of explosive ordnance were recovered, along with numerous pieces of explosive debris (fired rocket motors, burnt out projectiles and shrapnel).
The second phase involved clearance of the area between the Camp to the nearest residential areas (distance varied between 50 to 250 metres) with military assistance – 20 FARDC soldiers were provided with a short training programme covering safety and basic ammunition handling procedures and worked under the direct supervision of MAG technical staff.
By working in cooperation with the FARDC, MAG ensured the sustainability of project activities and maximised their impact. A targeted community-based Mine Risk Education (MRE) programme has also been implemented to reduce the future risk posed by the discovery of these items. Finally, the third and longest phase covered the detailed clearance within the Camp itself and disposal of recovered hazardous items.
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Munitions are stored near Camp Ngashi before being transported to Bongonde for demolition |
The final demolition of hazardous items from Camp Ngashi took place on Tuesday 29 January. Since the beginning of clearance activities in June, over 28,000 square metres of land have been cleared through visual search and with large loop detectors. In total, over 3,500 weapons, 5,000 UXO and 35,000 items of ammunition have been destroyed. To keep people safe during and after clearance activities, over 10,000 men, women and children received MRE, and stay safe messages have been broadcasted on the local radio.
Camp Ngashi and the surroundings have now reached a low level of threat from UXO. Clearance activities have not only prevented accidents from explosions but also freed land for agriculture, and rendered safe many roads and a water source crucial to the villagers’ daily activities. Socio-economic development around Camp Ngashi will no longer be limited by remnants of conflict.
The destruction of the ammunition also means it will not be available for trafficking – a significant problem in the Great Lakes region – thus contributing to regional peace-building. The destruction of surplus weapons in stockpiles by MAG’s SALW program and continual capacity-building of the FARDC in safe storage and handling procedures will prevent such accidents in the future.
• MAG has worked in DRC since July 2004, and established a base in Equateur in 2005.
• Similar explosions have occurred in ammunition storage depots, notably in Lagos, Nigeria in 2002, and in March 2007 a depot exploded in Maputo, Mozambique.
Links:
» More on MAG's work in Democratic Republic of Congo
» Focus on small arms and light weapons
11 February 2008
