KHAMIS MUSHAYT, 16 March 2008 — A 64-year-old woman was killed in the town of Hafayez when she inadvertently detonated a 105mm artillery shell near a garbage dump, the daily Al-Watan reported yesterday.
“A woman who was collecting firewood died of the injuries received from being too close to an explosion of abandoned ammunition,” said Col. Abdullah Aed Al-Qarni, police spokesman in the southern Asir region.
Al-Qarni said the accident took place on Friday and that officials from the Southern Military Command are investigating the incident, which is not the first of its kind in the area.
Another explosion that killed two people occurred at the same dumping area on Nov. 30 last year. On that occasion police gathered 27 live shells from there, the police spokesman said.
