Iftikhar Ahmad, the district police officer (DPO) of Hangu, said the children were playing with the grenade assuming that it was a ball when it exploded, killing all of them on the spot. The incident took place in Baber Mela, on the outskirts of Hangu, around 4pm, he added.
Three of the six children were Karim Khan’s sons, while the other two boys and one girl were children of his brother Muhammad Din.
Karim, an internally displaced person (IDP) from Orakzai Agency, said the children went outside to play in the afternoon when one of them spotted a hand grenade in the garbage dump.
The five boys and one girl started playing with it when it suddenly exploded, he said, which is when Muhammad Din rushed out of his house and saw his children and nephews and niece in a pool of blood.
They were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital where doctors said that all the children had died instantly as they were hit by shrapnel at a close range.
The victims were identified as Asif, Ashiq, Ishaq, Hazrat Gul, Mohib and Zakia. They were all under the age of 10. A case has been filed at the city police station.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2014.
COMMENTS (7)
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God - how does that father - Mohd. Din - lead a normal life from here on?
really sad to read about this.
Aerial firing on new year eve...grenades in the dumpster...
And you expect the world to believe that your nukes are safe?
I have a nightmare that the next nuclear explosion will be in Pakistan, used by Pakistanis, on Pakistanis.
Does anyone else get this nightmare?
end of sadness.
It's just depressing what is becoming of Pakistan. Now our children can't even play outside. Parents can't even send their kids out of the homes without worrying. I feel sad because my kids will never see the Pakistan I was brought up in when girls could safely cycle on the streets.
I cannot find words to condemn this incident. Half a dozen children of the same family, my heart goes out to the parents and grandparents. It is a shame that in our country there may not be basic food available but the killing weapons are aplenty. All I can see is darkness in the future as every new day the killings are only increasing.
I am sorry for their loss.