Eight face criminal charges in Rovajärvi mortar accident

Young men who lost limbs in the accident also under indictment

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A number of soldiers who were injured in the Rovajärvi mortar accident could now face criminal charges. Two officers, who were overseeing the exercise a few dozen metres away, are also under suspicion.
      One soldier from the Pori Brigade was killed in December 2005, when the tube of a mortar exploded because of an error in loading. In addition, five of seven members of the mortar team were injured. Some of them lost limbs.
     
The Turku unit of the National Bureau of Investigation has just about finished its pre-trial investigation. The police have decided to charge six conscripts and two officers with crimes including manslaughter.
      According to Heikki Topi-Hulmi, who is leading the investigation, two mortar shells wound up in the tube at the same time by accident. However, this does not negate the legal liability of the people involved.
      "According to the law, all of them should have made sure that only one shell is in the tube at one time", Inspector Topi-Hulmi points out.
      The police have also investigated whether or not the soldiers were given sufficient instructions. Topi-Hulmi describes the training as adequate.
     
The police will complete the pre-trial investigation within a few weeks. After that, State Prosecutor Jukka Rappe will formally decide whether or not charges will be pressed. If charges are pressed, the officers and discharged soldiers will have to stand trial.
      The Accident Investigation Board is investigating the causes of the incident along with the police's criminal investigation.
      The tube of the mortar exploded in a firing exercise, where a petty sergeant and six privates were supposed to fire nine shells in one minute. According to findings of the Accident Investigation Board, on the eighth shot, there were two shells in the tube for some reason.
      The Board is certain that the accident could not have occurred for any other technical reason, such as a foreign object in the tube, a fault in the shell, or a fault in the mortar.
     
The investigators were especially careful in looking for alternate causes for the accident, since none of the members of the mortar team suspected that the accident was caused by two shells being loaded into the tube at the same time.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Defence Forces suspend use of mortars after fatal accident last week (7.12.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat