Four children have died and three others were injured after they found an unexploded shell in southern Afghanistan, officials have said.
The incident in Helmand province happened when the children discovered an unexploded shell and brought it inside their religious school and started playing with it, before it detonated, according a statement from the provincial police chief’s office.
The children were aged seven to 14 and at least three others were injured, according to officers.
Afghanistan has suffered from decades of war and remains highly dangerous for children, who often collect scrap metal to sell to support their families.
Many are killed or maimed when they come across unexploded ordinance.
Three of the children in Saturday’s explosion were killed immediately and a girl later died from her wounds at the hospital in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, according to a doctor there.
