Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Ddasaccident007, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators determined that the victim used a "long handled shovel" while investigating a detector reading. He was digging by placing his foot on the shovel when the mine went off. The proximity to the power lines made the detectors signal continually in some places. The density of sub-surface roots made the demining group feel it was unsuitable for manual prodding.

Ddasaccident129, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

This accident involved a “P2MK2” minimum metal blast mine. [P2MK1 and P2MK2 mines are frequently given the same last number.] A letter explaining why it was not identified at the time was found on file in September 1999 - stating that the same mine occurred in two accidents at the site and that survey had not thrown up the presence of minimum metal mines.

Humanitarian Demining Technology Program Antipersonnel Mine Neutralization Device Test Report, Christopher Wanner

Global CWD Repository

The Antipersonnel Mine Neutralization Device (APMINUD) is a mechanical system for safely detonating Antipersonnel mines as part of a peace time mine clearance operation. It is intended to be used in conjunction with a shielded, all terrain vehicle with hydraulic crane. The system would be used to neutralize previously marked AP mines by detonating them one at a time.

The plunger inside the APMINUD is designed to strike the ground when released by the operator. An expendable foot on the plunger applies approximately two tons of impact force over a 10" diameter area when released. The impact force pushes the …

Ddasaccident240, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators determined that the victim was working in a "breaching lane" when he got a detector reading. He marked the point and started to prod. He found some old food tins and continued prodding. His right hand became tired so he moved his bayonet to his left hand just before the mine went off at 08:40. The victim lost his left eye, two fingers of his left hand and had minor injuries to his right hand and body.

Ddasaccident130, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators determined that the deminer was resting while his partner worked when he saw a fuse in the uncleared area at the side of the lane. He picked it up and "started playing" with it and it exploded. The Section Leader was covering for another deminer who had gone to urinate [so was not observing].

Ddasaccident125, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

This accident was listed in UN MAC records as a non-mine casualty and no accident inquiry had been instigated. [It was recognised that it was a mine accident when the MAC was asked to explain why it was not treated as such.]

Ddasaccident052, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

At 12:40 the victim was kneeling behind his base stick and demining in a heavily overgrown area. While cutting grass in front of his base stick he noticed some smoke ahead of him. He stood up to run and was only a metre away when something detonated behind him.

Ddasaccident252, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators determined that the victim was clearing a lane when he found a detector reading, marked it, and started to excavate with a pick. He hit the mine with the pick at 09:35 and sustained injuries to his hands and right shoulder.

Ddasaccident131, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

The investigators determined that the victim was working on the ridge of a stony hill [photographs showed it was very steep and rocky]. He was given permission to leave the area to urinate and went into an area declared clear by a dog survey team. The investigators expressed the view that the area was unsuitable for dogs to clear because it was too steep for them to "sit" when indicating a signal.