Munitions at Depot Explode, Rain Death and Destruction on

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000394 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE AF/S FOR HTREGER, AF/RSA FOR MBITTRICK MCC FOR SGAULL USAID FOR AFR/SA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KHDP PARM PHUM MZ SUBJECT: Munitions at Depot Explode, Rain Death and Destruction on Maputo Ref: Maputo 349 MAPUTO 00000394 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Ordnance stockpiled at the Malhazine weapons depot located near the airport in the capital city of Maputo ignited on March 22. Explosions of rockets, shells and bombs lasted for more than six hours, killing more than 100 people and injuring more than ¶500. Homes in surrounding neighborhoods were destroyed. Unexploded munitions and fragments were strewn over a large, mostly residential, area; remnants were found as far as 30km from the depot site. Much of it was collected in the past week. The cause of the explosions at Malhazine is unknown -- possibly improper storage and handling, but some in the press speculate that thieves (with soldiers' help) trying to dismantle weapons set them off. On March 31 some 50 people demonstrated outside Parliament, demanding the Minister of Defense (the First Lady's brother) resign. End summary. -------------- Exploding for Hours -------------- ¶2. (U) At approximately 4:00 p.m., Thursday, March 22, military weapons stored at the Malhazine ammunitions depot, located on the outskirts of Maputo, began exploding. The initial explosions triggered the ignition of other weapons, including rockets which landed within the city and bay. A mushroom cloud formed over the depot. Windows at the American Embassy, located more than 10km from the depot, rattled with each major blast. Explosions went on for six hours, sending metal fragments along with rockets, bombs and shells out from the depot. The Defense Minister reported that debris was found as far as 30km from the Malhazine. ¶3. (U) Unexploded ordnance penetrated buildings or burrowed into the soft sand of yards and roads. Emboff has seen pictures of a house pierced by an unexploded rocket that passed through each consecutive wall and landed in a nearby yard. It is possible to look straight through the house, from one end to the other, through the holes cut by the rocket. As many as a dozen schools were damaged, along with the main psychiatric hospital, located nearby, which was hit by two rockets. ¶4. (U) More than 100 people died and more than 500 were injured as a result of the exploding ordnance and flying debris, according to the latest government tally. The real figure is presumably higher -- persons in the depot surely would have been blown to bits. According to one newspaper, some twenty soldiers assigned to the depot are missing (and have not been counted in the official death toll). Many of the residents in the vicinity complain of hearing loss, some of damage to their eyesight. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. The airport, apparently undamaged, was closed for over 24 hours. -------------- Not the First Time -------------- ¶5. (U) The Malhazine weapons depot is located just after the end of the runway. Presumably, when the depot was built the city did not extend out that far. Now, however, their number boosted no doubt by a refugee influx during the civil war, shanties surround the fenced off area, visible as a green rectangle on a satellite image. In 1985 munitions exploded in Malhazine depot, reportedly with as much or even greater vehemence as on March 22. Only about a dozen people were killed in that incident, however, probably because there were far fewer in the vicinity. Although the government pledged to move the weapons depot, nothing was done. In January 2007, on a particularly hot day, several bombs went off and three people were injured. The government blamed the explosions on the heat. Again, the Defense Ministry pledged to act, and reportedly had actually begun to transfer some of the munitions out of the depot when the explosions occurred last month. Defense officials claim that one ton of ordnance was removed from the depot between January and March ¶2007. ¶6. (U) The cause of the latest explosions is unknown. UN demolition experts hypothesize that ageing munitions, improperly stored, are the most probable cause of the tragedy. De-mining experts tell us that they have heard that fused munitions were stored together with unfused munitions -- a "no-no" in the weapons storage business. For the past week there have been several stories in the press speculating that thieves, in league with soldiers on the base, inadvertently set off the explosions when dismantling bombs for scrap. For its part, the government says it does not know the cause. ¶7. (U) The government, so far, will not let outsiders -- including demolition experts -- into Malhazine depot to assess what bombs and MAPUTO 00000394 002.2 OF 002 shells remain. However, on April 2 senior military officials promised to let our defense attache, who is arranging an upcoming visit by a weapons disposal unit from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA),to visit Malhazine next week. We will send in a report after this visit. ¶8. (U) A small demonstration was held in front of the National Assembly on March 31, with protesters demanding the resignation of the Minister of Defense. According to news articles, ten people were arrested: seven Mozambicans (including a news reporter),a German and two Italians. The foreigners were released on March 31; the seven Mozambicans were held overnight and released the next day. Officials making the arrest alleged that public demonstrations were illegal. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Comment: Calls to have the Defense Minister replaced have put President Guebuza in a bind because Minister Dai is his brother-in-law (the brother of the First Lady). There seems little doubt that the army was extremely negligent -- not only in storing the weapons so close to a major urban center but in not disposing of them after 1985. Guebuza, while visiting wounded in the main hospital, vowed to dismantle the depot, which the government now says will cost USD 24 million. In other governments the embarrassed responsible official would be expected to step down. But Dai apparently does want to leave, and Guebuza so far has not fired him. The government has promised an inquiry and appointed a blue-ribbon panel (of prominent lawyers),but we doubt that its findings will count for much. Ironically, before the bombs went off Dai was rumored to have been on the verge of moving to take over as Minister of Interior. It is unclear at this juncture what effect the March 22 explosions will have on this expected Cabinet re-shuffle. Johnson