Wartime land mine explosion kills one, injure four in Egypt’s Suez

One person was killed and four were injured on Thursday in Egypt’s canal city of Suez after an old wartime landmine exploded, Egypt’s interior ministry announced.

The ministry said the explosion occurred after a land reclamation worker touched a cylindrical object in the ground in the vicinity of Faisal Police Station.

Egypt is considered one of the world’s most contaminated countries in terms of the number of mines and explosive war remnants scattered across its territory.

Most of the mines are located in the country’s Western Desert and are remnants of World War II, although some in the Suez area are left over from Egypt’s wars with Israel.

Over the past 20 years, 3,200 people have died and 4,723 have been handicapped in mine-related accidents in the country, according to the Journal of ERW and Mine Action.

Source: Ahram online