Blast Kills One, EU Vehicle 'Slightly Damaged'
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 21 Jun.'09 / 17:54

A driver of an ambulance vehicle accompanying EU monitoring patrol at the Abkhaz administrative border, died in a mine explosion on June 21.

“The details of the incident remain unclear at present,” the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said in a statement.

It said that at about 11.00am local time one of EUMM armoured vehicles carrying out a routine patrol near Eristskali was slightly damaged by a mine explosion, the accompanying ambulance was also damaged and the driver injured by the explosion; he died of injuries after being hospitalized.

The Georgian Interior Ministry said that a doctor in the ambulance vehicle was hospitalized with no life-threatening injuries.

“The EUMM has an agreed mandate to carry out unhindered patrols in the areas adjacent to the administrative boundary line,” Hansjörg Haber, head of the EU Monitoring Mission, said. “We are still looking into the details of this incident, but I would like to make clear that any unprovoked attacks on our unarmed monitors and their patrols, going about their legitimate duties, are completely unacceptable. We intend to contact the authorities on both sides of the administrative boundary line to investigate the details of this incident and ensure that nothing like this happens again.”

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