3 brothers killed in Peshawar grenade blast

Two minors also sustain injuries in explosion

PESHAWAR:

At least three brothers were killed and two injured in a hand grenade blast on the outskirts of the city on Wednesday.

Superintendent Police Saddar Waqr Khan told The Express Tribune that a child found a hand grenade while playing in the fields near his house and he brought it home to play with it without knowing it was a bomb.

“The child including his brothers and neighbours took the grenade to an under construction site and started playing and hitting it with a stone due to which the device suddenly exploded,” he informed, adding that the blast claimed the life of three children who died on the spot whereas two others were injured.

“One child is five years old and another one is 11 while the eldest is 15. All of them were killed on the spot,” the police officer confirmed. “They were rushed to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) where the condition of one child is stated to be critical.”

Khan informed that all the three children who were killed in the blast were brothers and under the age of 15.

“One child is their neighbor who is slightly injured. The father of the children Sher Shah is the resident of Rehmat Khan Kalay in Zanagali who told police that they found a piece of metal in the fields and it exploded when they were playing with it,” SP Khan said, adding that it was just an accident as Sher Shah is a poor man who has no enmity with anyone. He also refuted the chances of any foul play or terrorism.

The policeman highlighted that an old hand grenade had been thrown away by someone probably years ago in the fields and the children were unfortunate to find it and bring it home.

“I, myself, visited the spot and found nothing suspicious,” he concluded. Further investigations into the incident are underway.

Child falls off roof

An eight-year-old child was killed when he fell off the roof of his house in Ganderi village located in Risalpur.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the child, identified as Hussain, was playing the role of ‘Ertugral Ghazi’ with other children of the family when he lost his balance and fell off the roof top.

He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead by the doctors on arrival.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2021.