10 kids hurt in rifle grenade blast in Sulu

CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao—-At least 10 children were seriously injured when a 40-millimeter rifle grenade projectile they were toying with exploded in Parang town in Sulu, the police said Friday.

Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police chief, said the report reaching him indicated that the rifle grenade projectile was found by one of the victims on a rice field in Barangay Kanaway around 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

He said the child, whose identity, along with the other victims, was being held, brought the explosive to a nearby shanty, where more children had gathered.

Quoting local investigators, Mijares said the explosive might have been fired from somewhere but failed to explode when it hit soft ground.

It was not clear though how it exactly exploded but the children reportedly played with it.

He said all wounded victims aged between three and 10 were rushed to a government hospital in downtown Parang. Edwin O. Fernandez INQ