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'Blasts due to mercury robbery'
26/03/2007 14:15 - (SA)
Maputo - Last week's blasts at the Malhazine armoury in Mozambique were due to a robbery which went wrong, said military sources on Monday.
The fax sheet, A Tribuna Fax, quoted anonymous military sources as saying the blasts came after officials, who were stealing mercury by draining it from some of the containers, failed to tightly close the containers, reported Vista News.
"These acts are well known by authorities at the armoury, who never took any action," the source told the paper.
"If thorough investigations are going to be made it will be discovered that this act of robbing mercury involves army engineers who know very well how to deactivate these arms."
The sources also told the paper that mercury had a "ready market".
A further investigation by Vista News found that mercury was used in informal gold mining activities throughout the country.
'Exact cause being investigated'
The explosion which occurred last Thursday afternoon and resulted in the destruction of residential and commercial sites in townships near the armoury was blamed on intense heat.
Joaquin Mataruca, ministry of defence spokesperson, on Friday said that while the exact cause of the blasts were being investigated, it "could have" resulted from high temperatures.
He said the exploded arms were "obsolete" arms which were collected from the country's 16-year civil war and was awaiting destruction.
Opposition politicians and independent media, however, dismissed the military justification that the blast was due to intense heat.
"This is mere negligence and they should not try to find unfounded reasons to justify their incapability," said Yacub Sibindy, leader of independent party of Mozambique.
Armoury 'up in smoke'
This is the third time that the national army armoury, which was built by the Russians, has gone up in smoke since 1985.
In September 1985, 12 people were killed, while in January this year, three people were seriously injured in blasts at the armoury. At the time authorities attributed the blasts to high temperatures.
More than 500 people were injured and 101 people killed in Thursday's blasts which lasted three hours.
The government declared three days of national mourning on Saturday.
A commission of inquiry headed by prominent lawyers has been set and it is expected to give its reports in two weeks.
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