Last fire truck removed from minefield

THE LAST of the three fire trucks stuck in a minefield just outside the buffer zone was yesterday removed by a UN team.

UNFICYP Spokesman Rolando Gomez said that members of the UN’s Mine Action Service “cleared a sizeable section” of the minefield around the truck before towing it out using a transport vehicle.

The truck sustained extensive damage to its rear end after driving over an anti-tank mine. The three fire engines entered the buffer zone between Mammari and Denia earlier this month to help fight a fire when one drove over a mine, just on the cusp of the buffer zone. Five firefighters were rescued from the scene after deminers cleared a path for them. The trucks had to stay on site until a larger area could be cleared of mines. The truck was transported to Yeri village yesterday for the Fire Service to pick up.

While a substantial section was cleared of mines, the minefield remains ‘active’ in the area. The UN’s demining operations are set to shut down this February unless “the mandate changes to clear mines outside of the buffer zone,” said Gomez.

In the last six years, UN deminers cleared around 25,000 mines in the buffer zone (17,000 anti-personnel, 8,000 anti-tank). Only four minefields remain in the buffer zone, three belonging to the National Guard at Louroujina, and one Turkish minefield south of Varosha. The UN is still waiting for the go-ahead to clear them too.

According to unconfirmed reports, the National Guard has yet to give approval for clearing its three minefields due to disagreement over whether they are actually situated in the buffer zone.

It is estimated another 15,000 mines covering two squared kilometres continue to pose a danger to the inhabitants of Cyprus on either side of the buffer zone.

If the UN demining team fails to get the mandate to clear them, then it will pack up and leave in February, raising the question how will an incident like the fire truck one be handled in the future.

“The UN stands ready to demine any time anywhere as long as we get the green light,” said Gomez.

 

 

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