adminCrime Reporter
Police investigations have revealed that the area in which a round metal object which exploded and seriously injured five family members last week in Tsholotsho was a military base during the liberation struggle.
The device, which had a knob, was found by a 13-year-old boy in the bush and exploded at their homestead in Tsholotsho. A dog which was nearby died on the spot.
The five — who include the father Richard Moyo (64), Onias Moyo (32), the 13-year-old boy and two others aged 10 and two—were injured and rushed to Tsholotsho Hospital for medical assistance.
Richard Moyo is still admitted at the hospital while the other four have since been discharged.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi yesterday confirmed the developments.
“The father is still admitted in hospital while the other three have been discharged and we are still carrying out investigations with the help of relevant stakeholders,” he said.
The 13-year-old boy picked up the metal object from a nearby bush thinking it was toy and it exploded while he was using a hammer to remove the knob at his parents’ home in Gotshane Village, Chief Mahlathini.
This was not the first time that people have either been killed or injured following an explosion, usually from ordinance left over from the liberation war.
Even 40 years after the end of the conflict that led to Zimbabwe’s independence, leftover ordinance sometimes turn up.
Farmers in eastern France and southern Belgium still come across the odd unexploded shell from the First World War more than a century ago when these come to the surface as a result of normal earth movement and erosion and unexploded bombs from the Second World War turn up now and again in European cities, especially during new construction.
Online Reporter