MILITARY TACKLES UNEXPLODED MUNITIONS THREAT TO CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN
Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty
27 Mar 06
Astana, 27 March: The Kazakh Defence Ministry has discussed preventive
measures against munitions explosions on the territory of (central
Kazakh) Karaganda Region.
A press release circulated by the press service of the ministry today
says Defence Minister Mukhtar Altynbayev on 24 March held a meeting
with the ministry’s senior officers and considered “the need to ensure
public safety is maintained and preventive measures are taken against
munitions explosions around the town of Balkhash”.
Munitions, which are occasionally discovered at different places near
Balkhash, have ended up in the area after a fire at munitions depots
at the Tokrau [railway] station (near Balkhash) in 2001, the press
release says.
The fire broke out at a military unit in Tokrau, where several dozens
of thousands of tonnes of munitions used in field artillery, mortars
and firearms were stored, in August 2001 and raged for three days.
However, the shells continued exploding for a long time after the fire.
The shells were brought to the depots in 1989 from Afghanistan after
the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, and from Armenia following the
Spitak earthquake [in 1988].
The press release says currently the Aspap [Equipment] limited
liability partnership, which has a licence from the Industry and
Trade Ministry, is recycling scrap metal from the artillery shells.
There have been various emergency situations during the recycling of
munitions this year.
A shell detonated in Balkhash in February as it was being dismantled,
using gas-cutting equipment, for further recycling. Five workers of
the Aspap company died from the wounds they had received.
[Passage omitted: A working group will be set up and sent to Balkhash
to study the situation.]