An Australian man and his British colleague working to map unexploded bombs across Solomon Islands have been killed in an explosion at their home in the capital Honiara.
Australian Trent Lee and Briton Stephen “Luke” Atkinson died when an unexploded ordnance is believed to have detonated shortly after 7.30pm on Sunday.
The blast, inside the men’s rented accommodation in Tasahe, in the west of the city, was felt more than five kilometres away: cries for help from inside brought rescuers and emergency services to the building.
Several other unexploded bombs were found inside the apartment according to police inspector Clifford Tunuki. He said police did not know bombs were being brought back to a residential area and were “concerned that they decided to conduct explosive ordnance disposal operations within a residential area”.
The residence is a crime scene, he said.
The two men were employees of the NGO Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which maps unexploded ordnance across Solomon Islands, working alongside the police bomb disposal unit.
Solomon Islands was a key second world war battleground and its islands remain littered with thousands of bombs and unexploded ordnance more than seven decades later.
Workers are in the capital, on the island of Guadalcanal, clearing sites of bombs ahead of the 2023 Pacific Games.
The two men were reached by rescuers alive but were declared dead at hospital.
Witnesses told the Guardian “this whole neighbourhood felt the explosion … we knew straight away it was a bomb”.
“People now want to know why there was a bomb in a residential neighbourhood.” Tasahe is an upmarket suburb in Honiara’s west, home to many of the city’s expatriate community, diplomatic staff, and ambassadors.
Tunuki, the Solomons police inspector in charge of explosive ordnance disposal, said police were unaware bombs were being transported to the apartment. Other unexploded ordnance were found inside following the blast.
“We are concerned that they decided to conduct explosive ordnance disposal operations within a residential area. Royal Solomon Islands police force did not know these items had been moved to the… residence. If we had known we would have requested that the items be moved to a safe location.”
Other ordnance found in the apartment has been moved to Hell’s Point outside of Honiara.
“As investigations are still in the early stages we do not know what exactly happened that led to the bomb blast but preliminary investigations indicate they had several items of unexplored ordnance at the residence and they may have been conducting some unexploded ordnance work. The police force was not involved in those operations.”
Lee had written previously about the dangers he faced identifying and defusing decades-old unexploded bombs.
Posting a picture of a US naval round online last month, he wrote: “pretty much the most dangerous WW2 ammunition we find ... it’s cocked and ready to fire ... one bump and it’s all over.”
Deputy secretary general of NPA, Per Nergaard, said the explosion was “a tragic accident”.
“So far, we know that there has been an explosion with fatal consequences. Our main priority now is to offer assistance to relatives and colleagues, and to clarify what has happened.”
NPA’s activities in Solomon Islands have been suspended, and the organisation is assisting police with their investigations.