D.R. CONGO: Three days in the "Triangle of Death"

The MCTs go on deployment for about three weeks at a time, returning to the base at the end of the month for reporting and administrative issues.

From 4 to 6 August 2008, the MCTs set camp in Pepa, located on the main road between Pweto and Moba. A very large Belgian-owned farm that used to be a major centre for cattle herding and trade, Pepa was pillaged during the war by the Rwandan and Congolese armies. The teams are generally accommodated in tents, but in Pepa MAG rents an old farm house.

A typical day of work for the MCTs starts at 7am, and operations must be completed by 3.30pm, to ensure that in the event of an accident an air evacuation would be possible before sunset, which is always around 6pm close to the equator line. The MCTs normally deploy with three vehicles: one dedicated ambulance, one for the EOD equipment and one for the explosives (which, for safety reasons, cannot be transported with sensitive EOD equipment such as detonators).

Throughout the day, team leaders use the Dangerous Area (DA) reports compiled by MAG’s Community Liaison (CL) staff to guide their teams to the items to be cleared. These reports were completed with the local population and include a description of the suspect item(s) and a map of how to reach it/them with GPS coordinates.

The teams follow the markers in red paint drawn by the CL teams...

...and get their bearings using GPS.

Once they find the item, the teams evaluate if it is stable – ie. whether it can be removed, transported and destroyed later on in a bulk demolition – or not.

If the item is unstable and cannot be transported, it must be destroyed in situ. The team leader and TFM prepare the demolition: they unroll the firing cable, place the explosive and the detonator on the item, cover it with a sand bag to contain the explosion, and move at a safe distance for the explosion.

The teams then perform a visual search on at least 50 square metres around the UXO.

Once the DA is cleared, white paint is sprayed on the red marker to signify that the item has been removed. The teams then move to the next DA. In a full day of work, about 10 DAs are cleared.

On 6 August, before moving to Moba (the next temporary base in this deployment), the teams destroy the items removed in the previous three days in the surroundings of Pepa, in a bulk demolition. A vast abandoned field near the farmhouse serves as a demolition site. A hole is dug in the ground and the items are placed strategically in the pit.

As for an in situ demolition, explosives are placed in the pit and the detonator is fitted to the firing cable and then to the detonating cord. The detonator is then initiated electrically from the prescribed safety distance.

The teams always return to the pit after the explosion to ensure the destruction was complete and nothing dangerous remains.

The next morning, as the MAG convoy leaves Pepa towards Moba, the population, and especially the children, wave good bye. Cars crossing their villages are a rare happening…