Army to take disciplinary action against 14 officers over Salawa army camp explosion

Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake has ordered to take disciplinary action against 14 officers over the massive explosion of Salawa army ammunition storage in Kosgama.

The disciplinary action will be taken against 14 Army officers including a brigadier, who was the Deputy Commander of the camp at the time of the explosion and subsequent fire on 5 June 2016.

Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake has taken this decision based on the report of the internal investigation into the incident.

While the brigadier and the other officers were in the camp at the time of the incident, they have not acted to contain the fire and the massive destruction that followed.

The main charges against the 14 officers are their failure to prevent the explosion and spread of the fire and failure to deploy sufficient army cadre to prevent the spread of the inferno that destroyed the surrounding area homes and businesses.

According to the report prepared by the Army Commander the blast has caused over Rs. 1.28 billion in damage to the camp , vehicles and other state property. The damages to the private property including homes and businesses were estimated at Rs. 11.5 million.

The Government Analyst's report on the incident is expected to reveal the cause of the explosion. However it has not been released yet.

In addition to the Government Analyst's report on the explosion and fire, a team of officers appointed to investigate the explosion had conducted their own investigation.

The Army Commander has prepared his final report based on the report submitted to the court by the investigation team. Army's legal division will take disciplinary action against the 14 officers based on the final report.

In addition, the Army Commander has decided to conduct a separate investigation into the death of Corporal Janaka Chaminda, who died during the fire.

The fire erupted following the explosion and the subsequent explosion of ammunition shells showered several square kilometers surrounding the camp and destroyed homes, vehicles and businesses as well as public buildings. The army camp including vehicles, buildings, valuable assets and records was completely destroyed.

In the aftermath of the disaster, military deployed 3,000 soldiers to rebuild the houses and other buildings destroyed by the catastrophe at government's expense and the government paid compensation to the victims to the tune of Rs. 1.3 billion.

The reconstruction work of the Kosgama Army camp is still undergoing.

Source : Colombo Page