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Articles 1 - 30 of 44

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Ddasaccident315, Hd-Aid Dec 1999

Ddasaccident315, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred at 10:45 on December 24th 1999 during the manual demining of power lines between Maputo and Komatiport at the 88th tower about 8km from Moamba Town. The deminer was injured in an area considered to be densely mined during an attempt to enlarge the cleared area from 20 square metres to 40 square metres. While trying to cut some shrubs he made a "false move" and activated a mine outside his lane with his left foot. The mine was outside the "ring" and below a tree.


Ddasaccident263, Hd-Aid Nov 1999

Ddasaccident263, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

As the Team Leader was looking for any signs of the benchmark or any other marking from the site, he used a track well used by the locals. This track had hazard warning tape leading down (red and white chevron tape), either side of it forming a corridor. There were no mine signs or any other signs of restricting access and the track was marked in a way that it should be safe to use. The Victim was tasked to park 15 metres down the track and the Team Leader and the Victim alighted from the vehicle. The Team Leader …


Ddasaccident317, Hd-Aid Nov 1999

Ddasaccident317, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident took place in a mined area 30k North West of Beira along the Beira-Mwanza road. The victim was told by the Deputy Platoon Commander to take a hoe and a garden spade to the place marked with four red sticks and dig it out to find the metal that was making the detector signal. The victim started to dig at the place. He was not wearing protective equipment. After digging for ten minutes, at 06:20 the hoe he was using detonated a Type-72a mine [both 72a and 72b are mentioned in the varied papers].


Ddasaccident316, Hd-Aid Nov 1999

Ddasaccident316, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a defensive ring of mines laid during 1987. The ring formed part of the protection to Marrumbene Villa. The victim’s partner had marked a signal from his metal detector. The victim went forward and started to probe the ground. The mine was at an angle in the ground. At 11:45 he probed onto and detonated a mine.


Ddasaccident254, Hd-Aid Nov 1999

Ddasaccident254, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was working in an area of low brush adjacent to a (then) disused farm vehicle track. He was clearing a working lane along a line of PMA-2 mines and his team had found two that morning (one found by the victim). At 11:30 he initiated a PMA-2 by stepping on the mine with his right foot.


Ddasaccident262, Hd-Aid Oct 1999

Ddasaccident262, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

After lunch four of the deminers were tasked to build a bridge over a creek to allow better access to the area being cleared. The remaining deminer and the supervisor cleared a one metre wide lane in order to examine a tripwire that had been spotted outside the working area. When they got close to the tripwire the supervisor took over clearance and worked for 20 minutes. Then he "stood up, turned around and requested two more small pickets to mark his lane". While doing this he "lost his footing" and took a step backwards over his base stick with …


Ddasaccident305, Hd-Aid Oct 1999

Ddasaccident305, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a minefield called Palkie that was laid in 1970s. The contamination was such that a metal detector could not be used in some places and a “clearance by excavation” method was used. In one place where a shell had dropped, the victim was excavating using a Russian bayonet when he initiated a mine.


Ddasaccident404, Hd-Aid Oct 1999

Ddasaccident404, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A roof of the devastated house is burnt so there were pieces of metal parapets left on sides. Incident was due to a piece of parapet that fell to the ground and activated KB1 cluster bomb. The fallen piece of parapet and the wall of the house took almost all the bomblets [fragments] from KB1. One of them injured an SFOR supervisor in the upper part of his thigh while a deminer was injured under a rib. These were all minor injuries and the bomblets [fragments] were taken out in the hospital. The medic was close to the incident site …


Ddasaccident304, Hd-Aid Oct 1999

Ddasaccident304, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred when an EOD worker was making a final check over the cleared area. He then discovered a partly buried mortar (PD M-6) fuze. The fuze was already taken apart. The booster was removed and no safety pins (two) were in place. When the EOD worker handled the fuse the striker “sledged and initiated the detonator”.


Ddasaccident255, Hd-Aid Sep 1999

Ddasaccident255, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim, was clearing a lane past the remains of a dead cow and was already a metre past the cow when the accident occurred. While the victim was sweeping with the mine detector he received a signal on the right 10-cm overlap of the lane he was busy clearing. The ground at the accident site sloped slightly to the right of the lane. The victim started to prod in the area of the signal by using the prodder. When he was prodding on the right of his base stick, he activated an explosive device. This occurred at approximately 13:00.


Ddasaccident357, Hd-Aid Aug 1999

Ddasaccident357, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident had taken place at 1245hrs; the injured deminer arrived at Emergency hospital in Sulymania at 1400hrs and was admitted. The prodder which he had been using was badly damaged and had taken on the shape of a half moon. This indicated that the point of the prodder had detonated the mine.


Ddasaccident256, Hd-Aid Aug 1999

Ddasaccident256, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was engaged in widening a breaching lane at 13:40 when the accident occurred. He was not using approved marking methods [using none] and the accident occurred 3 metres in front of his base stick. His equipment had been removed from the site but witnesses confirmed that the victim's visor and prodder were some metres behind the victim [visor not worn] and that the handle of his trowel was a metre from the accident site


Ddasaccident260, Hd-Aid Aug 1999

Ddasaccident260, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was cutting an exploratory lane "to identify the direction of the Plough share mines". This appears to have been done by identifying a picket (post on which the plough share mines were originally placed) and working towards the next. The victim missed the next picket and returned to a place 30 metres from the last picket. "This is the normal drill to be used when row direction is lost". The victim did not use the correct marking and clearance procedures. He was investigating a detector reading at 08:15 when the accident occurred.


Ddasaccident347, Hd-Aid Aug 1999

Ddasaccident347, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Deminer worked in a minefield with a metal detector on a metal contaminated ground. While lifting the detector’s head from the surface towards the turf, the detector must have been slanted so it could have easily activated the PROM’s detonator if it was to be at the edge of the turf.


Ddasaccident352, Hd-Aid Aug 1999

Ddasaccident352, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

This accident occurred because the deminer activated a PROM mine, it is not possible to prove how the fuse was activated. In view of the fact that the deminers on the site were consistently exceeding established productivity rates by an excessively large amount, it is the view of the Board that the excessive operating speed was the major contributing factor.


Ddasaccident582, Hd-Aid Aug 1999

Ddasaccident582, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A deminer detonated a mine while about to undertake prodding/excavation of a metal-detector indication. It is thought that the light plastic cross used as a marker for the metal-detector indication got moved by the wind and he knelt directly onto the mine.


Ddasaccident351, Hd-Aid Jul 1999

Ddasaccident351, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

A failure to find the PROM-1 mine before the break proved fatal for both deminers, as the new No 1, who had been No 2 prior to the break, more than likely stepped on the mine unknowingly, in the presumed ‘cleared’ area, while both deminers were probably about to don their PPE before start of work.


Ddasaccident350, Hd-Aid Jul 1999

Ddasaccident350, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred due to the activation of a grenade fuze by indentation of the percussion cap. The fuze was disturbed or activated by the deminer. The fuze is comparatively new. The accident site had been interfered with and evidence that may removed or destroyed.


Ddasaccident349, Hd-Aid Jul 1999

Ddasaccident349, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred at a distance of 18.2m from the road – datum line, in the “cleared” area where the vegetation was very thoroughly removed by vertical cutting – using an axe. Accident happened when the sign for the break was given, while the deminers were leaving the minefield towards the Control point. The cause of the accident is the PROM –1 mine activated with pressure.


Ddasaccident312, Hd-Aid Jun 1999

Ddasaccident312, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

Work on the left lane was obstructed by a tree so the victim cleared 1x1m boxes from the side of the right lane. At 10:45, the victim was nearing completion of the 3rd box, and was just standing up to remove some grass that he had cut, when an unplanned explosion took place at his feet. It transpired that he had inadvertently detonated an explosive device.


Ddasaccident206, Hd-Aid Jun 1999

Ddasaccident206, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim "was preparing a mine for demolition in the middle of the second working lane" when then the accident occurred at 11:30. He had a trowel and shears with him at the time of the accident. The handle of the trowel "was separated horizontally and was burned." A prodder was found to the right of the crater. He "received many injuries to the head, to both legs and arms". He showed no sign of life when reached by other deminers.


Ddasaccident258, Hd-Aid Jun 1999

Ddasaccident258, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators concluded that the victim was working correctly and was excavating a detector reading rather than prodding because of "high gravel content" in the ground. They found that "sufficient water was on site and used". They believed that the mine may have been in a tilted position. They added that the victim "was protected from serious injury by wearing protective clothing correctly".


Ddasaccident259, Hd-Aid Jun 1999

Ddasaccident259, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators concluded that the victim was working correctly and was excavating a detector reading. They found that his visor and apron were "covered with mud" and his deformed trowel was found lying about a metre from the detonation. The soil around the hole was still wet, showing that the victim has used enough water to soften the ground. Beneath the point of detonation was "a deep burrow, probably dug by mice". "Detonation signs" were only visible on one side of the "blast hole".


Ddasaccident207, Hd-Aid Jun 1999

Ddasaccident207, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The primary cause of this accident is listed as a "Management/control inadequacy" because the system of sending out Level 1 survey teams without protection is inherently and obviously dangerous. To expect the surveyors to always be able to correctly assess an area prior to entering it implies a lack of knowledge and/or thought on the part of those who devised the system. The parameters of survey seem to have been confused, with inadequate SOPs and the surveyors having no clear idea of the limitations of their work. With the work ill defined, the training cannot have been appropriate, so the …


Ddasaccident319, Hd-Aid May 1999

Ddasaccident319, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The accident occurred in a mined area surrounding a former Frelimo/Zimbabwean soldier’s camp. The demining team was using a combination of manual and MDD techniques. At 07:50, victim No.1, the Team Leader, stepped on the mine and his right foot was amputated.


Ddasaccident257, Hd-Aid May 1999

Ddasaccident257, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators concluded that the victim was carrying out an excavation drill correctly. A high "gravel" content in the soil made excavation the correct drill to use. His blast apron was covered with mud, which was taken as proof that he was using water to soften the ground. The investigators thought it likely that the mine was unusually sensitive due to having spent "more than 20 years in the ground". They thought it possible that the spring firing mechanism was already partly depressed.


Ddasaccident261, Hd-Aid May 1999

Ddasaccident261, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was carrying out a normal excavation drill at 10:45 when a mine, "suspected R2M2…functioned" and he suffered a slight cut and some bruising to his left hand.


Ddasaccident120, Hd-Aid May 1999

Ddasaccident120, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was the one of a two-man team and was supposed to be "controlling" his partner who was in the clearance lane. The victim claimed that he had noticed an object "that he did not recognise" and prodded it with a piece of wire when it exploded. He sustained "lacerations and some light fragment damage to his hands… deep lacerations and damage to his left thumb and forefinger and lighter lacerations to his right middle finger".


Ddasaccident121, Hd-Aid May 1999

Ddasaccident121, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim was a Team Leader whose duties included disarming R2M2 mines. At 06:27 the Victim was "neutralising" an R2M2 mine by removing its booster charge [unscrewed from below] when the mine detonated. Another Team Leader witnessed the event and reported that the Victim was wearing his protective equipment (visor and apron) properly.


Ddasaccident010, Hd-Aid Apr 1999

Ddasaccident010, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The victim had been investigating a detector reading (at around 11:00) with his prodder when a mine [identified as an R2M2 by inference] detonated. He had bruised (sprained) his thumb. He had no other injury.