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One killed in Shinyanga grenade blast
2005-09-30 10:34:29
By Guardian Correspondent, Shinyanga
One person was killed and nine others were injured when a hand grenade dropped by fleeing robbers exploded in Bukombe District earlier this week
Forty-five-year-old Kavula Yadi died instantly in Monday’s incident at Nyampangwe Village, Shinyanga Regional Police Commander Abdallah Mssika said yesterday.
He said six robbers armed with clubs and machetes had earlier broken into the house of Mathias Mlobazi whom they severely beat up before robbing him of three bicycles, 14,000/- in cash and various household items.
But the victim managed to flee from the house and raised the alarm which prompted scores of neighbours to come to his aid in the 8pm incident.
Sensing danger after realising that they were hopelessly outnumbered, the thugs dropped their entire loot and fled the scene.
Items left behind by the gangsters included a hand grenade which sparked curiosity among the villagers, all of who did not seem to know what the object was.
While some insisted that it was a battery, others said it was a lucky charm designed to help the gangsters in their misdeeds.
The villagers then decided to take the hand grenade to the office of the village administration where as the debate as to what the gadget was raged, one of them pulled out the pin, Mssika said.
The grenade began smoking, prompting the villagers to flee in different directions, before exploding and killing Yadi on the spot.
Nine people were seriously injured in the blast and taken to Kahama District Hospital.
They are Samuel Elias, 29; Malila Kavula, 20; John Buhanje, 52; Vedasto Silvester, 27; Andrew Kunganya, 19; Samuel John, 30; Leons George, 40; and Josephat Kapesa, 35.
Mssika cautioned Shinyanga residents against picking up strange objects, adding that they should report to police whenever they came across suspicious-looking things.
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