Ammunition Explosions 1997-2004


Ammunition Explosions 1997-2004

Source: Ammunition Stocks: Promoting safe and secure storage and disposal (Biting the Bullet brief 18), pages 16-17

Explosive Events in Ammunition Storage Areas, 1997-2004

Date	Country	Location	Casualties		Remarks / Possible Cause
			Fatal	Injured
Mar 97	Albania	15 locations	56	59	Human Error and Security
21 Feb 98	Russia	Volgograd	0	0	Not Known
19 June 98	Russia	Urals	14	17	Lightning
01 Dec 98	Philippines	Tarlac City	0	0	Fire
29 Aug 99	Cambodia	Ream	0	0	Fire
09 Oct 99	Afghanistan	Mazar-e-Sharif	7	12	Handling
15 Apr 00	Congo	Kinshaha	40	216	Handling
28 Apr 00	India	Bharatpur	5	7	Fire
03 Mar 01	Guinea	Conakry	10	NK	Not Known
29 Apr 01	India	Panthankot	0	0	Not Known
20 May 01	Yemen	Al-Bayda	14	50	Not Known
24 May 01	India	Mirdhwal	1	5	Fire
11 Jul 01	Thailand	Pakchong	2	70	Handling
21 Jul 01	Russia	Buryatia	3	17	Fire?
08 Aug 01	Kazakstan	Almaty	NK	NK	Not Known
25 Oct 01	Thailand	Korat	17	60	Handling
05 Jan 02	Sierra Leone	Tongo	5	13	Handling
27 Jan 02	Nigeria	Lagos	1000+	NK	Fire
08 Mar 02	Sri Lanka	Kankesanturai	0	0	Ammunition Stability
27 Jun 02	Afghanistan	Spin Boldak	32	70	Sabotage?
08 Jul 02	Afghanistan	Spin Boldak	0	2	Not Known
16 Oct 02	Russia	Vladivostok	0	26	Demolitions
21 Nov 02	Ecuador	Riobamba	6	200	Handling
24 Jan 03	Peru	North	7	95	Not Known
26 Apr 03	Iraq	Zafrania	10	51	Sabotage
06 May 03	Vietnam	TBC	1	31	Not Known
30 Jun 03	Iraq	Fallujah	5	4	Handling
11 Oct 03	Ukraine	Artyomovsky	NK	NK	Fire
Feb 04	North Korea	Seonggang	1000?	NK	Not Known
Feb 04	Paraguay	Asuncion	0	0	Fire
06 May 04	Ukraine	Novobogdanovka	5	10	Fire

The table above contains details of some known or suspected explosive events within ammunition storage areas over the last five years. Appearance on this list should not allocate or imply blame for any of the explosive events referred to in this paper; indeed it may reflect relative transparency and responsible determination by the governments to recognise risks and to learn lessons from these unfortunate events.

Possible Causes of Ammunition Storage Area Explosions, 1997-2004


Cause	Post-Conflict	Non- Conflict	Total	%
Auto-Ignition of Propellant*		12	12	18.2
Cause Not Known or Not Confirmed	11	4	15	22.7
Fire‡	1	5	6	9.1
High Ambient Temperature	1	1	2	3.0
Human Error / Security	16	1	17	25.8
Lightning Strike		3	3	4.5
Movement / Handling	4	2	6	7.6
Shelf Life	1	2	3	4.5
Ammunition Instability		1	1	1.5
Sabotage		2	2	3.0

* The high incidence of auto-ignition of propellant is because a major source document for the GICHD study http://www.gichd.ch/pdf/publications/ERW_No2.pdf was an evaluation of the risks of auto-ignition. It is a major risk where ammunition surveillance is limited or non-existent, but a minor risk where appropriate ammunition surveillance practices take place. There is technical disagreement among various organisations as to how accurate this particular component may be, but until there is evidence to the contrary it is not possible to resolve this issue. ‡ The cause of fire is not identified in the data available. A percentage of this figure will relate to external fires resulting in explosions, such as Nigeria 2002, but a more significant element may be due to fires accidentally started during inappropriate activities within ammunition storage areas.