Fuse suspected of causing last week`s deadly explosion at firing range

SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- Military officials investigating last week's deadly
explosion at a shooting range said Thursday they have narrowed their focus down
to a fuse that testers placed inside the shell that blew up.
One man was killed and five others wounded on Dec. 3 when a shell loaded into a
155-millimeter gun exploded at a range north of Seoul during a performance test
by state arms research institutes.
Lt. Col. Kwon Tae-seok said in a briefing that investigators determined that the
chances of a malfunction in components other than the fuse were low considering
they had not been tampered with.
"It is our interim assessment that the newly-added-fuse may have been the
culprit," Kwon said, adding about 18,000 fuses of the same model are in use at
South Korean artillery bases after being developed by a local explosives
manufacturer.
"The fuses in use have shown no problem at the bases, and we have no plan as of
yet to withdraw them," he said, adding the investigators are working to reach a
final conclusion on the cause of the blast.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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