Two men receive suspended sentences for tunnel explosion

Two men have been sentenced to five and six months in prison, suspended for two years, for detonating a homemade bomb in the Múlagöng tunnel in Iceland, mbl.is reported. The explosion took place in the early hours of March 18, 2021.

The men were convicted by the District Court of Northeast Iceland of extensive and particularly serious property damage. The bomb was made partly from powder taken from sparklers and fireworks, placed inside a pressure vessel.

It was positioned beneath a technical room near a transformer station in the single-lane tunnel. The explosion cut power to the tunnel and caused extensive damage to the technical room. The tunnel remained without electricity throughout the night and into the following day.

The charges put the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration’s damage at more than 3.1 million Icelandic krónur.

Explosion had enormous destructive power

An assessment by a civil engineer specialising in fire and risk engineering found that the explosion generated enormous force. The overpressure was estimated at about 40 atmospheres.

The assessor said the bomb could have caused extensive damage in other circumstances, potentially at distances of tens or hundreds of metres. However, most of the explosive force went into lifting and moving the heavy container beneath which the bomb had been placed and creating a crater in the ground.

The assessment said it was relatively fortunate that the pressure vessel had been placed beneath the container, as this limited the damage.

One man was thrown against a wall

The court found it proven that both men had helped make the bomb, jointly selected the place where it was detonated and placed it beneath the technical room. It also found that one of them had lit the fuse.

Both men denied guilt in court. One acknowledged that he had been in the tunnel when the explosion occurred and said the force had thrown him violently against a wall. The court did not consider his account of the bomb’s construction and his own involvement credible.

The other man said he remembered little about the events. During the investigation, however, he had admitted taking part and described how the bomb was made and the journey to the tunnel. The court rejected his explanations for changing his account and relied on his earlier statement to police.

Proceedings took more than five years

The court described the conduct as blameworthy and the offence as particularly serious because of the bomb’s dangerous properties. Although it was not proven that the men had directly intended to destroy property, the court found it beyond reasonable doubt that they must have understood that the explosion could cause significant danger and destruction.

In determining the sentences, the court also considered that more than five years had passed since the offence and that the investigation, indictment and court proceedings had taken an excessive amount of time without the defendants being responsible for the delays.

Both men were ordered to pay the legal fees of their defence lawyers.