Two children were killed and another was injured after a hand grenade they mistook for a toy exploded while they were playing with it in Quetta, police said.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening in the Kechi Baig area of Balochistan’s provincial capital, where three children found the grenade near the boundary wall of a local Eid gah, an open ground used for Eid prayers.
Sariab Superintendent of Police Abid Bukhari said the children picked up the device, believing it to be a toy, before it detonated.
“They found it as a toy and started playing with it, which later exploded, killing two children and injuring another,” Bukhari said.
Two victims, aged eight and 12, died at the scene, while a third child was taken to Quetta’s Trauma Centre for medical treatment in injured condition.
Police have not yet released the identities of the children, but authorities have launched an investigation to determine how the explosive device came to be left in the area.
The incident is not the first of its kind as episodes involving unexploded ordnance continue to claim lives in some areas of Pakistan, particularly Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where children have repeatedly been killed or injured after handling discarded grenades and other explosive devices.
