By Biodun Busari vanguard
Two children have died and six people wounded in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a grenade they picked exploded, according to The East African report on Wednesday.
Local officials said the kids were hunting for birds in a field near Ndunda, on the Ruzizi plain in South Kivu province when they stumbled across the grenade on Monday.
“These children picked up the device that they confused with a toy, unaware that it was a grenade, and it exploded,” said Gerard Matibu Mupanzi, a local official.
He added that one three-year-old girl died in the blast on Monday afternoon, while an 11-year-old boy gave up the ghost the following morning due to multiple wounds sustained.
Another six people, including three children, were wounded in the accident.
A spokesperson for the Congolese military, Lieutenant Marc Elongo said that an army team had gone to Ndunda to probe the incident.
Over 120 armed groups roamed eastern DRC many a legacy of regional wars that flared at the turn of the century.
Elie Vagheni, who works for the United Nations Mine Action Service in the region, suggested that armed groups were to blame for unexploded ordinances.