Girl killed in grenade explosion at Somalia IDP camp

By Hassan Istiila

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - A child was killed Saturday and 17 injured when a hand grenade accidentally exploded at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Somalia’s Sool region, according to police.

Authorities said the children mistook the grenade for a toy and were playing with it when it detonated.

“The hand grenade was found by a child somewhere near the camp and brought it among a group of IDPs and started to playing it,” said region police chief Khalif Mohamed Ali.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

“I have seen a lot of people lying on the ground we started to helping the victims after minutes people arrived at the scene and helped us”, a mother, Halimo, told Anadolu Agency.

The IDP camp is at Ari Adeye village north of Lasanod, the provincial capital of the region.

There have been no indication as to who placed the grenade in the area.