Local authorities said on Tuesday that two children were killed and six others were injured in eastern DR Congo after a grenade they found while bird-hunting exploded.
On Monday, some children were searching for birds in a field close to Ndunda on the Ruzizi plain in the South Kivu region when they came discovered the grenade.
“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 stated that an 11-year-old boy died from his injuries the next morning, while a three-year-old daughter perished in the explosion on Monday afternoon. Three youngsters were among the additional six victims of the disaster who suffered injuries.
The Congolese military’s spokesperson, Lieutenant Marc Elongo, told reporters that an army team had traveled to Ndunda to look into the event.
The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to over 120 armed organisations, many of which are left over from local conflicts that erupted at the turn of the century.
Armed groups may be to blame for unexploded ordinance, according to Elie Vagheni, who works for the UN Mine Action Service in the area.