Hiiraan Online
Friday December 22, 2017
A piece of cloth belonging to one of the children hangs on a tree in Banisa sub county, Mander on December, 21,2017./STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Nairobi (HOL) - Five children were killed on Thursday evening after a bomb went off in Banisa town of Mandera county, officials confirmed.
Banisa Sub-County Deputy Commissioner, Mathias Chisambo who visited scene said the incident happened after a hand grenade which the children were playing with exploded, leading five deaths.
“Five school children were killed after an explosion went off in Banisa town. Bomb experts have launched investigations into the incident,” Chisambo said.
According to Chisambo the children were between 12 and 17 years
Mohamed Ali Osman, a member of County Assembly who spoke to Hiiraan Online said the children found the explosive the previous day and had been playing till it went off on Thursday evening.
"The children had the bomb for a day before it exploded as they were playing with it. We still don’t know how the bomb got there and we have asked police and army to investigate the incident,” he said.
In March of this year, two children were killed and three others sustained injuries after a bomb they were playing with, went off in Hareri-Hoosle village near Kenya’s border with Somalia.