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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Ddasaccident243, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident243, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that at around 11:00 the Section Leader instructed the deminers to pack up and rest until the end of the day. While they were resting Victim No.1 went into the uncleared area for no known reason. When he was 15m into the mined area he noticed a tripwire and "started wrapping it into the stick of a POMZ". A POMZ detonated at 11:30.
Ddasaccident051, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident051, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
At 07:30, [or 08:15 elsewhere] having only cleared a meter, the victim noticed that the marking stakes ahead of him were out of alignment so went into the adjoining exploratory lane to reposition them. He pushed a stake onto a mine that was on the border of the lane. He suffered light injuries on both arms. A quantity of earth was thrown up into his eyes, the skin of his face was lacerated and his right hand became inflamed. He was not wearing a visor. No one else was injured.
Ddasaccident241, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident241, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators decided that the victim was working with a detector when he got a signal from a fragment that was visible, half buried. He squatted to remove it with his bayonet but as he did so initiated a mine that was under the fragment. His visor "was not properly down" and he failed to centre the reading point and approach it at the angle dictated by the SOPs. The victim suffered injuries to his hands and his face, the latter including a lacerated lip and damaged teeth. The victim walked to the safe area.
Ddasaccident242, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident242, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators decided that the victim was working with a detector beside a stream when he got a signal. He marked it with two marks, one at the centre and one 15cm behind it, then he squatted to prod with his bayonet. He detonated a mine and received injuries to his face and chest.
Ddasaccident049, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident049, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The report recorded that the victim "accidentally detonated an anti-tank mine while preparing for the testing of the newly purchased Hydrema mine clearance machines". The victim was "deploying and arming" mines in a marked test ground and wore a "ballistic jacket and visor". He worked alone arming the mines at a distance of 300 metres from the nearest person (a medic). It is not recorded whether this mine was the first to be armed. He stood and looked down at the mine for 20 seconds, then knelt beside it for a second time. 25-30 seconds later the mine detonated. "It …
Ddasaccident239, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident239, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the ditch had contained many mines thought to have been brought into it by heavy rains in the past. The victim found a detector reading. He put on his helmet and started to prod in a squatting position. He detonated the mine with his bayonet at 09:15 (started work at 06:00).
Ddasaccident214, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident214, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The team started work at 06:00 the victim's partner located a PMA-3 and the Team Leader "dealt with this". At 07:00 the victim began his shift. After five minutes he located a PMA-3 and the Team Leader "dealt with this". At approximately 07:15 the victim stepped on a PMA-3 and it exploded. The victim's statement says that he was "in a position half on a knee of ground" with his prod when the mine exploded.
Ddasaccident050, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident050, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim said that he had cleared a 30cm section ahead of him and then moved the end-of-lane marker. He suddenly felt dizzy and accidentally put his hand into an uncleared area. The next thing he knew he was being attended by paramedics in the rest area. The victim also mentioned he had seen the tripwire "and had been picking up the pieces left" from former clearance. [An accompanying sketch map showed that another mine had been removed close to the accident site. It is possible that the victim notified his superiors of a tripwire and was told that it …
Ddasaccident115, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident115, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
A preliminary accident report from the demining group simply recorded that "while prodding he was injured due to a PMN mine explosion". The victim suffered an amputated thumb with other severe hand injuries, also minor arm, legs, chest, and face injuries.
Ddasaccident215, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident215, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim's partner found two PMA-3 mines and the Team Leader disarmed them and put them in a "mine storage area". The victim took over demining and after 4 minutes detonated a mine. He was squatting or kneeling and prodding at the time. He remained conscious but he had suffered damage to his eyes "due mostly to dirt coming up under his visor". He was evacuated to hospital "immediately", arriving after 18 minutes.
Ddasaccident360, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident360, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
Whilst [the Victim] was clearing the pit area of unburned WP with a shovel, something in the shovel-load exploded on hitting the ground causing a small metal fragment to puncture his left thigh.
Ddasaccident119, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident119, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The deminer and his partner were unable to use detectors (because they were "reading continuously" and so were prodding and excavating the area. Photographs of the area showed flat, dry, agricultural land. The victim located a PMN and reported it to his Section Leader" who told him to prepare a charge for its destruction. He lit the safety fuse and "rushed towards the safe area". As he did so he stepped into an uncleared area. A mine detonated and "the victim lost his right foot and got serious injuries to his left foot" at 11:10.
Ddasaccident238, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident238, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
Victim No.1 found two PMN-2 mines while excavating and they were destroyed. At about 08:45 he paused to remove loose soil and removed his helmet and visor. He used a shovel to remove the loose soil and detonated a mine. As a "result he got serious injuries on his both eyes, face". His Section Leader was not maintaining the correct safety distance (4m away) and was also injured.
Ddasaccident118, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident118, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim was working normally and got a reading from his detector which the investigators believe must have been from a fragment beyond the mine (they considered the mine undetectable with a Schiebel AN/19 detector). He marked the reading and while prodding towards it detonated the mine at 08:15. The victim received "superficial injuries on his right hand, forearm, fingers and neck".
Ddasaccident117, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident117, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
As the officials were pulling the destroyed vehicle away over another area of road (cleared by a mine-dog group in 1997) one of its wheels detonated another AT device at the side of the road. Three people were injured and the vehicle was "further damaged".
Ddasaccident122, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident122, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
No independent accident report was available in July 1998. A preliminary accident report from the demining group recorded that a deminer had an injury while prodding. No other details were made available.
Ddasaccident123, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident123, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim was working normally and registered a detector reading, so marked the spot and began prodding towards it. Before he reached the marked point an undetected mine detonated at 11:15. They found that he was working in a squatting position without wearing his helmet. They also found that he "ignored" correct prodding procedure and so applied pressure directly onto the pressure plate of the mine.
Ddasaccident124, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident124, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim was going to inspect the work of a breaching party when at 09:30 he stepped on a mine that the deminers had missed during clearance.
Ddasaccident018, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident018, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
It was while excavating with a "demining trowel" [see Analysis] at 08:30 that he detonated an anti-personnel mine, leaving him with "slight" injuries to his left hand and right thigh (it is presumed that the latter was caused by the handle of the "trowel"). The victim was blown onto his back and the trowel was found much further away. The victim was approximately 0.8m from the mine, and the crater was taken to indicate that it was buried to a depth of about 20cm.
Ddasaccident216, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident216, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
This team was demining in an area of very difficult terrain. Dogs were the best solution to the problem at hand. Correct drills were being employed. Supervision and Quality Assurance measures were entirely sufficient. Evidence suggests that the dog sat on the mine, causing the mine to detonate. Three personnel were injured by one mine. Evacuation time was one hour and thirty-five minutes from the time of detonation to arrival at the hospital.
Ddasaccident217, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident217, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
A Team Leader partially detonated a PMA-2 mine whilst deploying his team to their tasks. [Demining group] state that this mine was a re-laid mine. There is an equal amount of evidence to show that it could have been a mine that was missed on the original clearance of the lane.
Ddasaccident019, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident019, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The accident occurred near a high voltage pylon to the south of Moamba town and approximately 22 km from the demining group’s camp. The pylon was mined during the armed conflict and a barbed wire fence was put up to prevent the entry of people and animals. Outside this fence were other mines of the PMN, PMN-2 and PMD-6 types.
Ddasaccident218, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident218, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigator concluded that the accident occurred as a result of the victim's "total disregard of the inherent dangers of the area and [his] failure to conform to normal work procedures.
Ddasaccident021, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident021, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim was working as a deminer in a lane where “mechanical demining” had taken place. He detonated a PMN-2 mine with his “demining tool”.
Ddasaccident126, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident126, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The accident area had been cleared in the previous year and various UXO had been found, including half-buried mortars and M77 grenades. A seasonal wind had buried them. The victim was walking over the cleared area at 17:15 from his "base camp" when he initiated the device. He "lost" both legs and suffered superficial injuries on his abdomen and hands.
Ddasaccident127, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident127, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the deminer was "excavating" to investigate a detector reading when the accident occurred. He was using a shovel to do so. Investigators were unable to visit the accident site [due to deminer mobility and seasonal redeployment], so the report relied on interviews and written statements.
Ddasaccident127, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident127, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the deminer was "excavating" to investigate a detector reading when the accident occurred. He was using a shovel to do so. Investigators were unable to visit the accident site [due to deminer mobility and seasonal redeployment], so the report relied on interviews and written statements.
Ddasaccident128, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident128, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim said that the dogs checked a leash length (8m) and both dogs indicated a suspect point. The point was investigated and the fuse of a mortar was found. He was checking the second leash at a distance of 11 metres from the first when he stepped on a mine at 11:10.
Ddasaccident164, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident164, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The mined area was a road that linked Malay with National Route 5. The victim was working as a prodder man in one of the ditches that ran along both sides of the road. He was squatting at the bottom and working his way up the side. The ground had a very hard crust to a depth of 2cm and was soft underneath. The victim's partner marked a reading and then moved back to allow the victim to investigate. Because the ground was hard, the victim used a "trowel" to break up the surface, but initiated the mine.
Ddasaccident219, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident219, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators concluded that the mine had been missed during the earlier clearance tasks. Also that the training area was "extremely hostile" and easier sites could have been used. The investigators observed that the UN MAC Technical Guides "give no real guidance as to what alternative procedures should be undertaken" when detecting and prodding are inadequate in an area. In previous missed mine incidents in the area (involving two other commercial companies) the mines were also PMA-2s.