Accidental explosion kills three children in East Timor
22 March -- Three boys were killed and a fourth seriously injured yesterday when an artillery or mortar shell accidentally exploded near the East Timorese city of Baucau, the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)reported today.
The UN mission said that two of the boys, aged 10 and nine, died instantly, while the third, aged four, died this morning at a Baucau hospital. The fourth victim, 13, is still in the hospital with serious abdominal and head injuries. The children had been playing near an old Indonesian Army building when they found the shell and threw rocks at it, setting off the detonator. This marks the first such incident since the multinational force arrived in East Timor last September, UNTAET said.
Meanwhile in Dili, six suspected former militia detained last Friday by UN peacekeepers were being held today on murder and assault charges for their role in the 6 September massacre at a church in the Suai region. On that day, between 40 and 100 people, including priests, were killed by members of the Mahidi militia after seeking refuge in the church compound, the UN mission said.
In another investigation, UNTAET reported today that the remaining autopsies had been completed on the victims of the 25 September massacre by Team Alpha militiamen in Los Palos. The autopsies revealed that all victims, including two nuns, had been shot and cut with knives.
At the border with West Timor, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported today that refugee returns were on the rise, with almost 1,700 returns since Monday, bringing the total of repatriated people to 155,000 since last October. UNHCR also said that the Indonesian Government was conducting a census to verify reports that more than 100,000 refugees were still in West Timor
