3 Children Dead After Abandoned Hand Grenade Goes Off

At least three children were killed and two others suffered severe injuries in an unfortunate hand grenade explosion in Pakistan.

A group of children picked up the abandoned hand grenade Wednesday from a field in Pakistan’s suburban Zangali area in northwestern Peshawar city and brought the device home to play with during which it went off, Associated Press reported, citing local police official Riaz Ahmad.

Two brothers, Noor (13) and his brother Mohib (4) died on the scene, and two other minors, Lateef and Shoaib, along with a neighbor, were shifted to a hospital with critical injuries. One of the brothers succumbed to his injuries at the hospital, Pakistan’s The News International reported.

The father of the deceased children reportedly is an expatriate cab driver in the United Arab Emirates.

The device is called a hand grenade because it is typically thrown by hands targeting the enemies. The weapon turns lethal when detonated and is used by both army and militants.

Peshawar is the capital of the Pakistani province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a hotbed for militant activities for years. Armed militant groups have descended in “war” with the Pakistani army in the northwestern province and still enjoy a stronghold in the area. It is, hence, not uncommon for civilians to find leftover weapons and unexploded ordnance scattered around the province.

In October, seven students in Peshawar were killed and at least 50 others were injured when a bomb went off inside their school during a Koran (Quran) study class. Over 60 students were attending the class when the explosion tore through the Madrassa. A local police officer said someone carried the bomb into the school in a bag, and that the person left the lecture hall before the bomb exploded. The dead people were aged between 20 and 40, and boys as young as seven were left injured as a result of the blast. 10 students were listed in critical condition.