Victim of Mandera Explosion Referred To Ethiopia For Treatment.

The minor had a fractured bone in his right leg and the efforts to treat him at Elwak Sub County Referral Hospital bore no fruits. [iStockphoto]

A young man who was seriously wounded in an explosion in Mandera has been referred to a hospital in Ethiopia.

Mohamed Adan Ibrahim, 14 is being treated at Awasa hospital in Ethiopia after he lost one of his arms in an explosion caused by an explosive device abandoned in Dabacity village located in the outskirts of Elwak town.

The minor had a fractured bone in his right leg and the efforts to treat him at Elwak Sub County Referral Hospital bore no fruits.

The father of the boy who appealed to well-wishers to assist him raise medical funds believes the medication service at Awasa is worthy and affordable.

"We have taken the boy to the border town of Moyale and now heading to Awasa town (Ethiopia) because the treatment there is affordable and with good medication", he said on the phone.

The patient was with another minor (female) Farhiya Ibrahim Kula when they exploded after tinkering with the device.

Confirming the incident, Mandera CIO Benedict Kigen said the warhead, suspected to be an abandoned bomb, exploded on Monday evening after the unsuspecting children tinkered with it.

The CCIO added that an investigation is underway to determine if the device was deployed recently or was an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by suspected Al-Shabab terrorists targeting a communication mast nearby.

"The police are investigating to find out if the grenade is new or old. Preliminary investigation showed that it may be an abandoned bomb the children had hit it against a stone and small fragments of metal were found in the blast radius," said Kigen.

The young girl whom the parents confirmed is in stable condition is still being attended to at Elwak Sub County Referral Hospital.

It is barely one month after a similar incident killed two young boys in Wargadud town in the outskirts of Elwak Municipality.

Condemning rising insecurity, MP Abdul Kore (Mandera South) has called on security agencies to mob up unexploded bombs and IEDs in the area as they pose a risk to residents, especially children.