Fifth soldier was present at the weapons depot

The incident at the Waldhof munitions depot on 14 February cost the lives of two soldiers. The minister was reluctant to divulge any further details due to the ongoing investigation surrounding the tragedy.

However, he did indicate that the explosion could have done a lot more damage, because to begin with, there were not four, but five soldiers in the hangar.

According to the minister, the fifth soldier had left the depot only moments before the explosion took place to get something. After the explosion, the fifth soldier was thankfully able to intervene quickly and help the wounded men. The seriously-wounded soldier has since undergone a nine-hour surgery, and has now come out of his coma. He will however still need to undergo further surgery.

Bausch also explained that the building was seriously damaged during the explosion and will have to undergo renovations under the supervision of the administration for public buildings.

The bomb disposal team intervened in 315 incidents in the last year. The team recovered 192 grenades and blew up 617 kilograms of explosives.