Two Children Seriously Injured In Explosion While Playing With Hand Grenade

Two underage siblings in Lontauk Village, Namhsan Township, picked up what is believed to be a hand grenade with on their way to tea plantation and they were seriously injured when it exploded as they were playing with it.

On April 20 at 2 p.m., after having a bath with their mother at a tea plantation stream, the two siblings picked up and played with a hand grenade on the road to Man Pain and Man Laeng villages. An explosion occurred when they opened the cap of the grenade. 8-year-old Mai Kyel Sin Aung suffered a puncture wound to the back of his cheek, and 5-year-old Lwe Thiri Yadana Aung suffered serious bullet wounds to her left abdomen and piercing wound to her wrist.

The father of the injured children said, “They went to the tea plantation site and slept there. They were to pick the tea leaves. They took a bath at the stream, washing their clothes. After the bath, mother asked them to go back home first. On the way back home, they found a grenade and played with it. The elder child pulled out the switch, which looked like the head of the grenade. It sounded like a “Phee,” and he threw it away immediately. His younger sister walked in front of him, and she could not run, so she was injured even more. A shrapnel pierced her stomach. The boy, Kyel Sin Aung was injured on his cheek. It pierced from the back and also hit the gums.” 

The injured siblings were taken to Namkham Hospital, where they are currently receiving medical treatment. The father said they need to take treatment for about two weeks, and they are short of money for medical expenses. 

A doctor treating the children said, “They arrived on the the 22nd. but the incident happened on the 20th. Thiri Yadana Aung, the younger sister, was seriously injured. As soon as they arrived at the hospital, she was rushed into surgery. A part of the colon was damaged. We had to cut and reconnect it. Her hand was punctured and the bone was broken. We asked the pediatrician to check her. We are hopeful her condition will improve. She was treated in time because she came to us. I should say she is doing well. We will continue monitoring her condition for another two weeks. We are doing everything we can to ensure her condition to be good.”