Military accident: 'stop speculation'

admin — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:39:00 +0000

The accident at the SA National Defence Force's Lohatlha training grounds last week happened immediately after technicians had finished repairing the weapon, a Mark V twin-barrelled 35mm gun, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said in the National Assembly.

A one-eighth of a second burst of explosive shells from the barrel of the anti-aircraft gun killed nine soldiers and injured 15 others, MPs heard on Tuesday.

Explaining the circumstances of the incident, which happened on Friday, Lekota said the training exercise had involved eight guns positioned 20 metres apart in a line facing north.

The day was the first on which the soldiers involved had used "live" ammunition in a training exercise. The ground targets being fired at were located between 1 500m and 2 000m away.

Each gun had a crew of four. The gun in question was the one on the far right, at the east end of the line.

"As all guns commenced firing, the gun on the far right had a stoppage. This is something that happens from time to time.

"Technicians repaired this gun, while all the other guns continued firing. This is a very normal drill.

"As they continued firing, after the gun was fixed, it swung completely to the left, and one barrel fired off a burst of 15 to 20 shots in one-eighth of a second. The gun immediately to the left was hit.

"This fatal burst then killed or injured members of all the guns to the left. The effect was therefore that all of those killed or injured were hit from the right and lost right hands, or right legs, or lost their lives."

He confirmed the total number killed was nine, and 15 injured.

Lekota said the eight guns had been used the day before, "and each one had successfully fired between 500 and 800 rounds".

He further explained the guns could be set on either "manual or electric firing mode".

On Friday, they had all been set on manual. This meant they were sighted on the target, and the barrel then clamped into position "so that the barrel should not move from side to side".

"When firing in electric mode, safety boundaries are computerised and the barrels are not clamped, but move within the boundaries set in advance."

Lekota said care was always taken within the SANDF to avoid accidents, and he offered his condolences to the families of those killed and injured.

He said the soldiers killed would each receive full military funerals.

The South African Navy & Marine and Coastal Management: Military accident: 'stop speculation'

Military accident: 'stop speculation'