By Adow Jubat
Monday, October 21, 2013
Mandera, Kenya: A 15-year-old secondary school boy was killed and two of his siblings injured on Sunday afternoon in Mandera town, after an explosive device they were playing with went off in their hands.
According to the police, the school boys came across a shining object lying on a graveyard as they were heading home after a playful day at river Dua.
Confirming the incident, the Mandera East OCPD Jackson Rotich said, “At around 12 noon on Sunday three boys from the same family aged between 12 and 15 collected two objects suspected to be hand grenades on their way from playing expedition and took home to play with it.”
He added “The deceased who was the oldest acquired a hammer upon arrival at home and started hitting the incendiary objects severally unaware of its consequences as his other siblings gathered around him to witness the outcome of what was inside the objects. Then the objects went off injuring the three family members.”
Rotich said the eldest boy, a form two student at a local secondary, who was the one hammering the explosive device in bid to open it died shortly on arrival at Mandera District Hospital. They had been rushed to the hospital for treatment by neighbours who responded to the deafening sound of the explosive and subsequent distress calls of the children.
The OCPD said, “According to an eyewitnesses the boys collected the lethal objects from a graveyard after being attracted presumably by its unique design and its glittering display, before proceeding with them to their homestead and started playing with it before it went off leaving behind a trail of disaster.”
Rotich noted that during the incident, the parents of the children who would have stopped them from handling the suspicious objects were not around since the father a Kenya Police Reservist (KPR) was on sentry duty at the governor’s office, while the mother was out to the market shopping for groceries to prepare lunch for the family.
The police boss added “We can’t speculate at this point how the explosive got into the graveyard as the we are still doing our investigation.”
Source: Standard Digital