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Ddasaccident147, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident147, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the accident occurred when the deminer used only one marking stone to mark a detector signal, then prodded in a squatting position which "failed him to maintain the correct prodding angle". It is suggested that he was careless because he thought he had detected a fragment (having detected many fragments immediately beforehand).
Ddasaccident146, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident146, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators said that, "When the deminer registered a reading on the detector, he marked the reading and then started prodding in half prone/squatting position. After a few minutes prodding he approached the second marker and the mine went off".
Ddasaccident008, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident008, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
At 10:30 the victim was walking through the area to reach the rest area when he stood on a mine, thought to be a PMN buried to a depth of about 5cm. The victim suffered a below knee amputation to his left leg and minor injuries to both arms and legs.
Ddasaccident138, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident138, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The accident area was undulating and steep with dry earth and rock. The team had found "many" PMNs in the area prior to the accident. The deminer was clearing a safe-lane and was using a prodder to inspect a reading when a PMN exploded at 11:20. He suffered minor blast injuries to his neck and chin as well as small injuries to both hands in the dorsal area and his right shoulder. His visor and helmet took most of the blast. The victim walked out of the accident area and was taken to the Emergency hospital in Sulymania along with …
Ddasaccident224, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident224, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The team were finishing their shift for the day and the victim was asked to mark the edge of the area that had been surveyed that day. As he walked to that point he trod on an undetected PMA-3. The victim was later told that the mine had been laid too deep for the detectors to locate. The victim was wearing military boots, leggings, a frag-jacket, and a helmet & visor.
Ddasaccident148, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident148, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that Victim No.1 was scratching a mark to show the end of the breaching land outside the area actually cleared (he should have left a 50cm safety margin the other way) when his bayonet pulled the tripwire attached to the mine. The mine was three metres away from the deminer when it was initiated. They thought that Victim No 2 did not maintain the proper safety distance and so was hit by some fragments.
Ddasaccident149, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident149, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim did not use a tripwire feeler before using the detector, despite the known presence of tripwire mines. They decided that he then moved the detector head quickly and so pulled a tripwire with it.
Ddasaccident150, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident150, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim investigated a signal and found part of the handle of a metal spoon. When checking the spot again, the detector signalled again and the deminer did not re-mark the signal properly because he thought the signal would be from the rest of the spoon. He prodded in a squatting position and initiated the mine with his bayonet – which was "destroyed".
Ddasaccident167, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident167, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The working area was covered with dense vegetation and the clearance work involved the removal of thick bushes and small trees. The victim had been working as the vegetation cutter and prodder man on the morning of the accident and had completed the clearance of his lane just before the lunch break. As he was returning he noticed that one of the stakes holding the marking tape was not straight so he attempted to put it right by pulling the tape. In trying to do so he walked along a fallen log near the edge of the lane but his …
Ddasaccident237, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident237, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The document stated that the victim had been recently trained by the group he was working with. He was working in an area known to contain PMA-1 and PMA-3 mines. He was not wearing a helmet and visor and was prodding for mines. He was prodding with "a vertical stabbing motion" when he detonated a PMA-3.
Ddasaccident225, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident225, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
At 12:40 the two victims were at an appropriate place to site a spur, so the Team Leader instructed them to start a lane off to the left. The deminers changed roles, exchanging leggings and marking tape when they did so [only one set of leggings was issued per pair of deminers]. As Victim No.2 was withdrawing his partner asked him to pass the machete. He returned and did so, then walked away again. He was about five metres away when the mine detonated.
Ddasaccident151, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident151, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the deminer located a tripwire and informed his superiors. Correct procedure required that the wire be pulled from a safe distance. The deminer pulled the wire from 30 metres while in a standing position.
Ddasaccident169, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident169, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
Victim No.1 was carrying a DK2 fuse to the collections pit and dropped it. It exploded when it hit the ground. The victim was leaning over slightly when it fell and received injuries to his cheek and nose. The other two victims were close by and were hit on the back by fragments and small stones.
Ddasaccident168, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident168, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim was a prodder man and he and his partner had already cleared about 20m and had found about 30 fragments. At 08:30 the victim was returning along the lane after clearing some vegetation and trod on a mine that was about 11m into the lane.
Ddasaccident152, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident152, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim was clearing a breaching lane. He got a detector reading, marked it with a single stone, and began to prod in a squatting position. During prodding he initiated the mine. The victim was wearing a helmet and visor.
Ddasaccident226, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident226, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
A local farmer had reported a UXO to the police. The team located the farmer, then parked their vehicle 50m from the accident site and walked with the farmer towards the suspected UXO. The farmer entered the field with Victim No.1 following. The farmer indicated the rough direction of the device and Victim No.2 moved up behind him. All three began to search, all within 1.5 metres of each other. The medic returned to the vehicle to be near to the medical kit. "Statements indicate that at the moment of detonation Victim No.1 bent over slightly and the other two …
Ddasaccident153, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident153, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators decided that the victim had got a reading with his detector and investigated it but found nothing. He swept the area again and still got a reading, so without remarking the spot, he squatted to prod again [presumed to have been wearing his helmet and visor].
Ddasaccident154, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident154, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators decided that the two victims were assigned a breaching lane to clear. Victim No.1 was eager to finish investigating a signal when a rest period was announced, so hurried and used excessive force. Victim No.2: was not maintaining the safety distance required and was also injured.
Ddasaccident012, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident012, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The victim had last attended a revision course seven months before and had last been on leave eight days before the accident. The accident occurred on ground described as soft agricultural land. A photograph showed the ground which appeared to be dust on top of compacted fine-silt.
Ddasaccident076, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident076, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
Using a spade he moved some white phosphorus that he thought was posing a hazard to undergrowth six metres from the pit. While he was doing this there was an explosion in the pit and phosphorus was thrown onto his hands and clothing. [This occurred at about 15:15.] The victim immediately removed his clothing. The senior Lao ordnance specialist present stated that the victim stripped to his underpants and mud was put on his hand, thigh and back. When the victim arrived at the Provincial Hospital (said to be "no time") no-one knew how to treat phosphorus burns, so the …
Ddasaccident234, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident234, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The Team Commander knew that there were mines present. "After thorough checking [he] had ordered the removal of 15cm of topsoil, followed by a second 15cm. The mine was still 15cm below the surface. This was too deep for the detector to pick it up and too deep for the prodder to reveal its presence… the ground compacted under his weight and set off the mine."
Ddasaccident077, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident077, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
A deminer [the victim in a later accident on the same day] began clearance and located a PMN. He informed the Team Leader and then continued work and located another two PMNs. He then moved to the end of the clearance lane and found a further three PMNs. As he worked he marked the lane by taking markers from the right side and putting them on the left side. Each of the discovered mines was marked with a wooden picket.
Ddasaccident078, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident078, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The Team leader was preparing to destroy the discovered mines when he was injured in the first mine accident on the site that day [See accident No.227]. After the Supervisor had dealt with that accident he went looking for the deminer who had found the mines, intending to appoint him as the acting Team Leader.
Ddasaccident157, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident157, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim was working in a “small garden”. His detector registered a signal and he prodded and located a fragment. He checked the area with the detector and it signalled again, so he prodded the same area and the mine initiated. The deminer's helmet and bayonet prodder were "destroyed". A photograph showed that the visor has been torn from the helmet on one side.
Ddasaccident056, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident056, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
Two witnesses "who at this stage were only one metre from the deminer" described his attempts at excavation as "futile" because the ground was too hard. The victim used water to try to soften the ground but this did not help. He excavated for about eight minutes before the detonation occurred at 08:15. The blast was "within half a metre of his body". The victim received injuries to his face "and may well lose his sight… his right forearm was later amputated….his right leg has fragmentation injuries". The victim was wearing a "fragmentation vest" and a visor (both damaged). The …
Ddasaccident026, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident026, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
On the day of the accident a truck initiated a mine with its right front wheel as it turned onto the verge to unload. The driver was sitting above the wheel that caused the detonation. He escaped from the cab before it caught fire. He was taken to hospital but later discharged in "good health". The blast wave threw the truck one-meter forward, destroyed the wheel and made the cab and front tyres catch fire. [Photographs indicate minimal blast damage to the cab above the wheel arch – implying deflagration rather than detonation of the device, or an incendiary/small blast …
Ddasaccident236, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident236, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The document stated that the victim was called to confirm the presence of a mine by one of his colleagues. He turned to comply, and as he did so his foot slipped "on a piece of wood" and he fell over. As he got up "he put his foot outside the cleared lane and detonated a PMA-3 which was buried and not visible".
Ddasaccident158, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident158, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim was clearing a portion of the minefield with bushes, grass and defensive wire. While he was searching for a tripwire with the feeler, the deminer set off a tripwire-controlled device with the feeler. He was not wearing a helmet and visor at the time.
Ddasaccident235, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident235, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The document stated that the deminers were working on a bare and stony slope. They were "familiar with the ground" and the minefield record. The victim stood at the edge of the mined area, stepped into it and saw a GORADZE mine. He asked a deminer behind him (the report records that the second man was "unprotected") to confirm the identification and moved forward. As he did so he stepped on a mine that he had not seen. As he fell backwards he detonated a second mine that he had failed to detect.
Ddasaccident082, Hd-Aid
Ddasaccident082, Hd-Aid
Global CWD Repository
The investigators determined that the victim had checked the area with a detector then started to cut the grass and bush with a sickle. He stepped on a mine that he has missed at the end of his work on the previous day. The investigation was limited by bad security in the area and the investigators were unable to validate a claim that the Schiebel detector signalled constantly and so was unreliable.