Preliminary report into mining accident released

A preliminary report released on Thursday by HALO Trust, a British humanitarian demining organisation, has concluded that an accident which killed four of its deminers last month involved an anti-tank mine missed by demining dogs in an area that was previously believed to have been cleared.

Eight HALO Trust employees were in the vehicle that detonated the anti-tank mine. One team leader and three manual deminers - all Eritreans - were killed in the accident.

Of the four survivors, two suffered minor injuries. The group of eight was part of a team responsible for clearing a one-square kilometre area in the north of the country used for cotton cultivation and animal grazing by the local population.

"Close analysis of the methodology of clearance of the site has led us to conclude that the Land Rover our employees were driving detonated an anti-tank mine missed by demining dogs," said Alan Macdonald, Programme Manager of HALO Trust’s operations in Eritrea.

The area being cleared was near the tiny northern village of Komcheway, which is located about 13 km south of Nakfa, the symbolic centre of the Eritrean liberation struggle. The minefield was laid with antitank mines in 1978 by Eritrean rebels fighting Ethiopia’s Derg regime.

HALO’s preliminary report on the incident has been passed to the Eritrean Demining Authority, which will then conduct its own investigation.

All of HALO’s demining activities in the area where the accident occurred have been suspended until the end of the year, and it has advised the local community to stay clear of the area until further notice. Macdonald said HALO plans to resurvey all areas cleared by demining dog teams there and clear them again.

Halo Trust has cleared one-million square metres of ground suspected of contamination by mines and other unexploded devices since opening its operations in Eritrea in August 2000.