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The Rhodesia Herald,

May 10, 1965

A EUROPEAN boy was killed and another injured when a shell from the First World War exploded here today.

The explosion rocked the northern residential area near the old jail and police headquarters.

Willem Adrian Jacobus Bezuidenhout (7), son of Mr and Mrs GHP Bezuidenhout was blown to pieces.

His companion, a neighbour’s child named Louw, was taken to the hospital suffering from a bruised eye and cut leg.

The explosion occurred when the two boys were playing in the yard of the Bezuidenhout’s house with what was believed to be a harmless old German shell from the First World War.

They had apparently been chopping and hammering at the shell for the same time before the explosion occurred.

A number of window panes were shattered and the report of the blast was heard a mile and a half away. Police went to the scene immediately.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

• Young children need to be monitored constantly especially when they are playing outside where they can easily pick up dangerous objects, which can injure or even kill them like the boy in the story.
• Parents should teach their children not to touch or tamper with objects that they randomly pick up, and that they should always consult adults when they encounter such objects.
• The identification of old bombs especially in areas where wars were fought should be an ongoing exercise. The Government has been carrying out de-mining exercises especially along some of the country’s border areas where people have lost their lives, limbs and livestock to landmines planted by the Rhodesian armed forces.
• Statistics show that there are a lot of unexploded old bombs all over the world and there is need for authorities to carry out awareness campaigns so that people can easily identify some of the old bombs and notify relevant authorities.