libyaherald
By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 29 March 2014:
Plans to destroy Qaddafi-regime ammunition and missiles near the desert oasis town of Jalu went disastrously wrong this morning when an explosion killed two men. Two others were seriously injured in the blast.
“The explosion took place near the Man-Made River (MMR) company regional headquarters, 40 kilometres north of the Al-Shula oil compound,” the head of local security in Jalu, Abdilsalam Saleh Al-Majbery, told the Libya Herald.
The dead and injured had been collecting missiles and equipment from all over the vast area and had taken them for destruction near the MMR facility, said Al-Majbery. “The disposal operation was carried out largely in cooperation with Sarir power station staff, the MMR staff, local civil societies and the ‘NO Organization for Eliminating Mines and War Remains’,” said Al-Majbery.
According to him, the accident happened while the men were trying to blow up Russian Grad missiles.
“I can’t give exact figures for the amount that was to be disposed of, but it was a couple of tons,” said Al-Majbery. “Most of the remains are Russian Grad Missiles, which are old-fashioned and not recommended for military use any more,” he stated.
The two dead men have been named by the Libyan news agency LANA as Maftuh Mayouf and Rashid Hussein.
There have been a number of explosions at ammunition dumps since the revolution, partly due to poor storage conditions or because explosives and equipment being moved improperly by thieves. Earlier this week there were massive explosions at an arms depot at Sebha after thieves tried to steal ammunition left there.
