2008 Gërdec explosions

Infobox News event


caption=Gerdec, aftermath of explosion.
date=15 March, 2008
time=noon (1100 GMT)
place=Gërdec, Albania
casualties1=24 dead
casualties2=300+ injured

The 2008 Gërdec explosions occurred on Saturday 15 March 2008 at around noon, at an ex-military ammunition depot in village Gerdec – Vora Municipality (14 kilometers from Tirana), Albania. The explosions could be heard in the Macedonian capital of Skopje, 170 km (100 miles) away. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/17/europe/EU-GEN-Albania-Explosion.php 2 more dead found from Albania ammunition dump blast - International Herald Tribune ] ]

The first explosion occurred around noon, after a huge fire started to set off a series of explosions that continued until 2 a.m. on Sunday. The main explosion "(More than 400 tons of propellant in containers deflagrated)" destroyed hundreds of houses a few kilometers from the depot, and broke glass windows of the cars on the Tirana-Durres highway. Thousands of artillery shells, most of them unexploded littered the area. The blast shattered all the windows of the terminal building at the country’s only international airport, and all flights were suspended for some 40 minutes. Some 4,000 inhabitants of the zone were evacuated and offered sheltered in state-owned resorts. The Government declared the zone a Disaster Area. Based on the first investigations an ammo dismantling process was on-going in the area, which was completely in the hands of a private company.

Possible causes

* Imprudence, or human mistake, during the work, such as lighting a cigarette form the worker or mechanical action on any fuse detonation might have started the fire;
* The way the ammunition was stored and the employment of incompetent persons without the proper technical knowledge.
* Violation of the technical security rules, including the area where the destruction of ammunition took place;
* Intentional action.

Contracts

The repacking/dismantling of ammunition at the dump was being carried out by an Albanian company that had been subcontracted by Southern Ammunition Company Inc. of Loris, South Carolina, an U.S. company. The US Company “Southern Ammunition Company” won through direct procurement the right to destroy ammunition in Albania though industrial dismantling (media reports).SAC was contracted in 2006 by the Ministry of Defence for the deactivation of 100 million 7.62 mm caliber bullets, 20 million 12.7 mm caliber bullets and 20 million 14.5 mm caliber bullets. (A second contract involved ammunition from 40 mm up to 152 mm). The US Company, after signing the contract with the MoD entrusted the work in the field to an Albanian subcontractor, "“Alb-Demil”". But further related news stated that the U.S. company was repacking SALW ammunition and shipping it to Afghan National Army, on behalf a contract signed in U.S. on January 2007. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/world/asia/27ammo.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=world]

Figures

So far officially Albanian authorities have confirmed 24 dead people. Officials report the number of injured people at over 300. [ [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-21-albania-blast_N.htm Death toll from Albanian dump blast climbs - USATODAY.com ] ] . According to figures published by the Prime Minister’s Office, until now the Albanian authorities have confirmed that 2306 building had been affected by Saturday’s explosion. Among these, 318 houses had been destroyed completely, 200 buildings had very serious damages, 188 buildings were not seriously damaged and about 1600 had minor damages. [Kulish, Nicholas, "After Munitions Explosion, Albanians Ask Why Danger Was Placed So Near", "New York Times", April 19, 2008, p. 5.]

Political Consequences & Investigation

On 17 March 2008 Minister of Defence of the Republic of Albania Mr. Fatmir Mediu resigns from his governmental position [BBC: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7301098.stm Albania minister quits over blast] ] .So far the Albanian authorities have executed arrest orders for "Mihail Delijorgji" - President of "Alb-Demil" Company, "Ylli Pinari" - Director of the State contolled enterprise at Ministry of Defence "MEICO" - authorized by Albanian laws to deal with military goods export-import, and "Dritan Minxholi" - "Alb-Demil" Executive Director. A General Prosecution Office investigation is under way.A special group of prosecutors and investigators from Tirana Prosecution, Ministry of Interior experts, Tirana State Police, EOD specialists, military engineers and Military Police have already started to achieve facts and collect witnesses declarations. The investigation group is expected by the beginning of April 2008 to publish the names of the officials involved in the tragedy. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accepted the request of the Albanian General Prosecutors Office (GPO) to assist the investigation.

Data

Albania has some 100,000 tons of excess ammunition stored in former army depots across the country, ex-Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu said. NATO countries, particularly the United States, Canada and Norway, have been helping Albania dispose of excess ammunition and obsolete weaponry. Authorities stated that most of the ammunitions being dismantled at Gerdec was Soviet and Chinese artillery shells made in the 1960s, when Albania was under Communist rule (up to 152 mm).

ee also

* 2008 Chelopechene explosions

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7298501.stm BBC News: In pictures: Albania explosions]