Two boys died near Cofimvaba after picking up hand grenade they found while hunting, Eastern Cape police said on Monday.
”Police explosives experts said it is an M26 hand grenade of South African origin,” said Superintendent Edwin Taleni after the police explosives unit went to the scene on Monday to identify the type of explosive.
The age and origin of the device is not known.
Taleni said the boys, aged 10 and 14, ”picked up an explosive, they fiddled with it and it exploded”.
They were out hunting on Sunday at about 5pm with four other boys at Chamama village near Cofimvaba in the Queenstown area at the time.
”One picked up this explosive and four of them ran away, because they said police once told them this was a bomb,” said Taleni.
One of the boys said police had visited their school and warned them not to touch items such as grenades. — Sapa