THREE KILLED, AT LEAST 52 INJURED AFTER WEAPONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000680

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2017
TAGS: PGOV KPKO ASEC MOPS CG
SUBJECT: THREE KILLED, AT LEAST 52 INJURED AFTER WEAPONS
DEPOT EXPLODES IN EQUATEUR

Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) Summary: Three people were killed and at least 52
injured after several tons of munitions caught fire and
exploded early on the morning of June 17 at the Congolese
military (FARDC) base in the provincial capital of Mbandaka,
Equateur. No cause has been established for the fire,. Damage
has been extensive, destroying an adjacent military hospital
and many buildings at the FARDC's camp. A GDRC delegation led
by Interior Minister Denis Kalume visited Mbandaka June 17,
promising two tons of medicine for the injured. End summary.


2. (U) A fire broke out in the early morning of June 17 at a
weapons depot at the FARDC's Camp Ngashi in Mbandaka,
Equateur province. Governor Jose Makila told us June 17 the
ordnance stored at the facility -- several tons worth --
began exploding around 3:00 a.m., resulting in heavy damage
throughout the provincial capital. Officials with the
demining NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) said June 18 the
explosion propelled some ordnance several miles from the
storage site, causing fires that destroyed a number of homes
in the vicinity. MONUC-Mbandaka Head of Office Guirane Ndiaye
said June 17 a military hospital adjacent to the depot was
completely destroyed, as were many other buildings at the
camp. Makila said exploding munitions also damaged some stateadministration offices and the governor's office. akila said
he asked Kalume to declare Mbandaka adisaster zone, but
Ndiaye said the resulting damge was not that serious, except
in the immediate area of the depot.


3. (U) Makila and MONUC officals in Mbandaka report an
initial death toll of hree people -- including a 30-year-old
woman, a 1-year-old man, and a 2-year-old child who was
aparently hit by debris that was propelled across the Congo
River. As of midday June 18, Makila said he number of
injured had risen to 52, although mst were in stable
condition.


4. (C) Congolesemilitary authorities have not established
the case of the fire that started the explosions, though
commission of inquiry has been established to ivestigate the
incident. Makila told PolOff June 7 that four suspects were
in military custody, a was an admiral from the FARDC Naval
Forces detahment in Mbandaka. Ndiaye said June 17 the
weapon depot was not well-guarded by the FARDC. DanielSissling, MAG's DRC Program Manager, agreed, addin that
storage procedures there were not particularly strict,
suggesting that degraded munitions could also be a cause.


5. (SBU) A GDRC delegation, led by Interior Minister Denis
Kalume, and including Defense Minister Chikez Diemu and
Health Minister Victor Makwenge plus several parliamentarians
from Equateur, arrived in Mbandaka the afternoon of June 17
to inspect the area. Kalume promised provincial officials
assistance in the form of two tons of medicine for the
victims, plus USD 20,000 to meet immediate health needs. The
delegation was accompanied by 15 doctors from Kinshasa to
help local health officials.


6. (SBU) Sissling said most of the exploded ordnance was
small arms and light weapons, including ammunition,
rocket-propelled grenades, and smaller unfused rockets. At
the end of May, MAG had completed the destruction of
non-servicable weapons at Camp Ngashi as authorized by FARDC
officials. Sissling said a variety of ordnance still remain
at the site which MAG was not permitted to inspect or
destroy, including a number of large bombs intended for
delivery by aircraft. He added that a MAG team is currently
clearing civilian areas in Mbandaka and will later work on
the depot itself, destroying all remaining unserviceable
weapons and ammunition.


7. (C) Comment: Predictably, rumors of sabotage began
circulating immediately after the explosion. Presidential
hardliners, predictably, are pointing their fingers at
supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba in his home province of
Equateur. Bemba supporters in Equateur, including the
governor, are predictably claiming the munitions were
destroyed so they could not be sent to the FARDC in the east
to use in hunting down the FDLR. It is entirely possible that
the explosion was set off by accident, and very probably that
the cause will never be known. The absence of evidence of
sabotage will not, however, put an end to the conspiracy
theories. End comment.
MEECE