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