Six children from the same family were killed when a landmine left over from Mozambique’s civil war exploded in the Southern African country, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
The children found the landmine while playing on Thursday in a field behind their home near the village of Namacura in central Mozambique, the ministry said.
One of the children wanted to open the explosive device, which resembled a can, causing the blast. The victims were between the ages of five and 16, public television reported.
About 15 years after the end of the 1976-1992 civil war, more than 100 square kilometres remain to be demined in the country nearly twice the size of California, especially in rural areas.
About 10 people die each year in accidental mine explosions in Mozambique.
International financial partners have, however, withdrawn from a demining programme begun in 1994 to work in countries where the problem is considered more urgent.
As a result, the government in Maputo has said it will not be able to reach its goal of freeing the country of mines by 2010.
In March, an explosion ripped apart Mozambique’s main armoury and killed 119 people. Many of the explosives that went off in the blast were left over from the civil war. — Sapa-AFP