VZCZCXRO1998
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #0394/01 0921515
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021515Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7089
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP  0183

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000394 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR HTREGER, AF/RSA FOR MBITTRICK 
MCC FOR SGAULL 
USAID FOR AFR/SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KHDP PARM PHUM MZ
SUBJECT: Munitions at Depot Explode, Rain Death and Destruction on 
Maputo 
 
Ref: Maputo 349 
 
MAPUTO 00000394  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  Ordnance stockpiled at the Malhazine weapons depot 
located near the airport in the capital city of Maputo ignited on 
March 22. Explosions of rockets, shells and bombs lasted for more 
than six hours, killing more than 100 people and injuring more than 
¶500. Homes in surrounding neighborhoods were destroyed. Unexploded 
munitions and fragments were strewn over a large, mostly 
residential, area; remnants were found as far as 30km from the depot 
site. Much of it was collected in the past week.  The cause of the 
explosions at Malhazine is unknown -- possibly improper storage and 
handling, but some in the press speculate that thieves (with 
soldiers' help) trying to dismantle weapons set them off. On March 
31 some 50 people demonstrated outside Parliament, demanding the 
Minister of Defense (the First Lady's brother) resign. End summary. 
 
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Exploding for Hours 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) At approximately 4:00 p.m., Thursday, March 22, military 
weapons stored at the Malhazine ammunitions depot, located on the 
outskirts of Maputo, began exploding. The initial explosions 
triggered the ignition of other weapons, including rockets which 
landed within the city and bay. A mushroom cloud formed over the 
depot. Windows at the American Embassy, located more than 10km from 
the depot, rattled with each major blast. Explosions went on for six 
hours, sending metal fragments along with rockets, bombs and shells 
out from the depot. The Defense Minister reported that debris was 
found as far as 30km from the Malhazine. 
 
¶3. (U) Unexploded ordnance penetrated buildings or burrowed into the 
soft sand of yards and roads. Emboff has seen pictures of a house 
pierced by an unexploded rocket that passed through each consecutive 
wall and landed in a nearby yard. It is possible to look straight 
through the house, from one end to the other, through the holes cut 
by the rocket. As many as a dozen schools were damaged, along with 
the main psychiatric hospital, located nearby, which was hit by two 
rockets. 
 
¶4. (U) More than 100 people died and more than 500 were injured as a 
result of the exploding ordnance and flying debris, according to the 
latest government tally. The real figure is presumably higher -- 
persons in the depot surely would have been blown to bits. According 
to one newspaper, some twenty soldiers assigned to the depot are 
missing (and have not been counted in the official death toll). Many 
of the residents in the vicinity complain of hearing loss, some of 
damage to their eyesight. Hundreds of homes were destroyed. The 
airport, apparently undamaged, was closed for over 24 hours. 
 
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Not the First Time 
------------------ 
 
¶5. (U) The Malhazine weapons depot is located just after the end of 
the runway. Presumably, when the depot was built the city did not 
extend out that far. Now, however, their number boosted no doubt by 
a refugee influx during the civil war, shanties surround the fenced 
off area, visible as a green rectangle on a satellite image. In 1985 
munitions exploded in Malhazine depot, reportedly with as much or 
even greater vehemence as on March 22. Only about a dozen people 
were killed in that incident, however, probably because there were 
far fewer in the vicinity.  Although the government pledged to move 
the weapons depot, nothing was done. In January 2007, on a 
particularly hot day, several bombs went off and three people were 
injured. The government blamed the explosions on the heat. Again, 
the Defense Ministry pledged to act, and reportedly had actually 
begun to transfer some of the munitions out of the depot when the 
explosions occurred last month. Defense officials claim that one ton 
of ordnance was removed from the depot between January and March 
¶2007. 
 
¶6. (U) The cause of the latest explosions is unknown. UN demolition 
experts hypothesize that ageing munitions, improperly stored, are 
the most probable cause of the tragedy. De-mining experts tell us 
that they have heard that fused munitions were stored together with 
unfused munitions -- a "no-no" in the weapons storage business.  For 
the past week there have been several stories in the press 
speculating that thieves, in league with soldiers on the base, 
inadvertently set off the explosions when dismantling bombs for 
scrap. For its part, the government says it does not know the cause. 
 
 
¶7. (U) The government, so far, will not let outsiders -- including 
demolition experts -- into Malhazine depot to assess what bombs and 
 
MAPUTO 00000394  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
shells remain. However, on April 2 senior military officials 
promised to let our defense attache, who is arranging an upcoming 
visit by a weapons disposal unit from the Defense Threat Reduction 
Agency (DTRA), to visit Malhazine next week. We will send in a 
report after this visit. 
 
¶8. (U) A small demonstration was held in front of the National 
Assembly on March 31, with protesters demanding the resignation of 
the Minister of Defense. According to news articles, ten people were 
arrested: seven Mozambicans (including a news reporter), a German 
and two Italians. The foreigners were released on March 31; the 
seven Mozambicans were held overnight and released the next day. 
Officials making the arrest alleged that public demonstrations were 
illegal. 
 
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Comment 
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¶9. (SBU) Comment:  Calls to have the Defense Minister replaced have 
put President Guebuza in a bind because Minister Dai is his 
brother-in-law (the brother of the First Lady). There seems little 
doubt that the army was extremely negligent -- not only in storing 
the weapons so close to a major urban center but in not disposing of 
them after 1985. Guebuza, while visiting wounded in the main 
hospital, vowed to dismantle the depot, which the government now 
says will cost USD 24 million. In other governments the embarrassed 
responsible official would be expected to step down. But Dai 
apparently does want to leave, and Guebuza so far has not fired him. 
The government has promised an inquiry and appointed a blue-ribbon 
panel (of prominent lawyers), but we doubt that its findings will 
count for much. Ironically, before the bombs went off Dai was 
rumored to have been on the verge of moving to take over as Minister 
of Interior. It is unclear at this juncture what effect the March 22 
explosions will have on this expected Cabinet re-shuffle. 
 
Johnson