Albania, a dangerous ammunition spot in the world

TIRANA, Aug 5 – The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement writes about the country’s ammunition depots and their danger.
It notes that the growing humanitarian problem posed by aging and poorly maintained munitions storage sites around the world, especially in Albania.
On March 15, 2008, a series of explosions ripped through an Albanian government munitions depot in the village of G쳤ec, near Tirana, resulting in 24 deaths, injuries to over 300 people, and catastrophic damage to hundreds of homes and other civilian structures within a 2.5 kilometer (1 1/2 miles) radius. Contributing factors to the initial explosion which triggered a cascade of further explosions involved old, unstable ammunition, improper storage and unsafe handling. Sadly, this was not an isolated incident.
Today, dangerous unexploded ordnance remains strewn everywhere. Some of the houses that were heavily damaged and rendered uninhabitable by the blast are visible in the background. Even houses that were much farther away were damaged when the shockwaves of the blasts literally lifted their roofs.
Another example of an explosion after the Gerdec blast was July 10 in Uzbekistan. An explosion at a military depot in Kagan, southeast of Bukhara, killed at least 3 persons and injured 21, according to the government. There have been unconfirmed reports of even more casualties.
On July 3, in Bulgaria, a series of explosions at the Chelopchene munitions depot in Sofia rocked the city and forced the evacuation of residents within a 6 kilometer (3.7 mile) radius. Tons of ammunition and explosives blew up. More munitions and explosives are believed to be damaged, constituting a danger. The United States immediately offered to help empty this hazardous explosive site and Bulgaria accepted. The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement is preparing to render assistance.
Catastrophic explosions at other munitions storage depots in populated areas in Uzbekistan and Bulgaria have since occurred. They are but the latest in a series of incidents spanning many years and among the most recent manifestations of an international problem that has worsened since the end of the Cold War – government arms depots filled with aging, unstable, poorly maintained, improperly stored, and weakly guarded munitions. These “dangerous depots” have the potential to create even more casualties on an annual basis than landmines or explosive remnants from wars.