Towards the complete clearing of Selica hotspot in Burrel

Published: Tuesday, 28 August 2018 16:09

Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) company members and Support Command Engineer forces of the Armed Forces are still working to clear the second tunnel of Selica in Burrel. After the completion of the first tunnel in 2017, the military members engaged in this operation have managed to clear about half the surface of the second tunnel.

The Armed Forces members and vehicles have cleared 9.5 tons of ammunition and tens of tons of inert materials. The ammunition extracted from the second tunnel of Selica were sent to be destroyed at Biza’s Polygon. The second operation, launched in July 2018, aims to clear the entire remaining area and the zone around it within September, returning a substantial area clear to the local residents.

This risky hotspot consists of two tunnels with a surface of 750m2 each, exploded in 1997, causing the death of 23 people and contamination of the tunnels and the frontal area outside them. Over 20 years after that explosion, the tunnels have created an ongoing threat to local inhabitants, due to exploded and unexploded ordnance. The Armed Forces aim to clear all hotspots within 2018, solving this problem once and for all, which has endangered inhabitants’ lives around for many years.