A 12-year-old boy had his hand ripped off after a spent cartridge he threw into a fire exploded at Kolongolo village.
The boy, a pupil at Bishop Korir Academy, had reportedly picked the device in Kolongolo market centre and took it home before it exploded as he tried to burn it.
According to a local resident Francis Simiyu, the device exploded, ripping off the boy's right hand.
He was rushed to Kolongolo Mission Hospital and later referred to the Trans Nzoia County Referral Hospital in Kitale.
Residents claimed that the spent cartridge was suspected to been fired by the police during the shooting in the area in December, last year.
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“We suspect the object that exploded after the boy tried to burn was from the police shooting, which killed five people and injured several others during the confrontation between residents and police officers last month,” said Simiyu.
Endebess OCPD Shadrack Rutto said investigations had been launched into the incident.
“It is true the boy picked an object whose nature we are yet to establish and tried to burn it before it exploded and injured him," he told The Standard.
Meanwhile, residents of Kolongolo have urged the Government to make public the findings of police shooting in the area last December.
The residents claimed that no action has been taken against officers responsible for the shooting which left five people dead.
