MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bullock ends days in minefield

The remains of a bullock which entered minefield

ON a Friday evening one could be excused for thinking that the Joint Services Explosive Ordnance (JSEOD) team would be winding down at the end of a busy week -

wrong.

A bullock wandering into a minefield near Clam Shell Point and consequently being blown up by a landmine was to cause some extra hours for the team. Reports were arriving at their indistinctive Portakabin office at Hillside Camp of an explosion that had rattled windows all along the waterfront of Stanley. Most witnesses claimed the explosion came from the Yorke Bay area, so members of EOD, the Fire Service and the Royal Falkland Islands Police were sent to check this out. The light was fading fast in poor visibility and no area of Yorke bay or Cape Pembroke was found to have any damage that would indicate that a large explosion, such as that heard by the town could have taken place. At six o'clock after darkness had fallen a report came in that a plume of smoke had been spotted on Wireless Ridge. The EOD lads swapped their Land Rover for the all terrain BV206 and moved to Fairy Cove to investigate the reason for the explosion. All the minefields in the area were checked. All the fences were found to be in good condition with no repairs required, but because of the lack of light the seat of the explosion nor the reason could be identified. "There were no reports of a missing person, so it was then decided to return to Hillside and continue the investigation in daylight," explained Q-Mines, W2 Powell. EOD moved onto Wireless Ridge in the morning to find that the landowners (FIC Ltd) had already discovered the reason for the explosion. "It's thought that the bullock entered the minefield around the beach at low water," said FIC General Manager Roger Spink, adding "...this is something that we will definitely try to rectify." The bullock had been a member of a herd of 13, "...unlucky for him," commented Q-mines as the hapless animal which no doubt had considered the grass to be greener on the other side of the fence was by this time distributed over an area of some 200 metres near the beach. With the animal completely decapitated, Mr Spink wondered whether it had attempted to lick or chew the landmine. EOD have since identified at least one more landmine close to the remains of the bullock, which will be dealt with in the future. "This incident with the exploding bullock and the identification of another mine is a timely reminder for us all that the mines are as dangerous today as they were 25 years ago," concluded Q-Mines. Penguin News