The deceased are Isaac Ogenrwot and Kwigiri, both 12-year old and residents of Abuka village. Ogenrwot reportedly died on the spot after the blast while Kwigiri succumbed to injuries while being rushed to Kitgum General Hospital.
A grenade explosion in Abuka village in Palabek Gem
Sub-county in Lamwo district has claimed the lives of two children and left two
others nursing severe injuries.
The deceased are Isaac Ogenrwot and Kwigiri, both 12-year old and residents of
Abuka village. Ogenrwot reportedly died on the spot after the blast while
Kwigiri succumbed to injuries while being rushed to Kitgum General Hospital.
The injured have been identified as 8-year-old Sunday
Acellam and 11-year-old Okeny. The duo was admitted at Palabek Gem Health
Center III for emergency treatment.
The Palabek Gem Sub County Chairperson, Patrick Olal says the minors were grazing
animals when they landed on an explosive.
He says the children started playing
with the explosive and hit on a rocky surface triggering and explosion.
Luo byte
//Cue in: “kama lutino ni….
Cue out: ….kwede kunu."//
Jimmy Patrick Okema, Aswa River Region Police Spokesperson, says investigations
into the incident are ongoing to establish what could have happened.
Acholi Sub
region, the epicenter of the two decades of fights between the rebel Lord’s
Resistance Army and Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF soldiers, is still
littered with thousands of unexploded ordinances that pose danger to lives of
locals.
In the neighbouring Kitgum district in June this year, two
children and their mother were injured after a stick grenade exploded in their
home in Bobi B village in Ibakara parish, Kitgum Matidi Sub County. The stick
grenade was reportedly picked by one of the minors.
