NationStates Jolt Archive


Idiots use hand grenade to play ball...

Lt_Cody
07-11-2005, 18:14
...become nominees for Darwin Award (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9932905/)

Three die in Bosnia playing catch with grenade
Witnesses say weapon exploded as youths tossed it to each other

Updated: 8:17 a.m. ET Nov. 5, 2005
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia - A hand grenade being used instead of a ball in a game of catch exploded early on Saturday killing three youths in this Bosnian town, police and news agencies said.

Two youths aged 19 and 20, one of them from neighboring Croatia, were killed instantly while a 20-year-old woman died on her way to hospital, police said. Her sister was slightly injured but two other youths suffered serious injuries.

The blast occurred at 2:00 a.m. (8pm ET Friday) in the western town of Novi Grad at a place in the town center frequented by youngsters. Police said an inquiry was under way and declined further comment. It was not clear why the grenade exploded.

ONASA news agency quoted witnesses as saying the youths tossed the hand grenade to each other before it exploded in the hands of one of them.

Bosnia is awash with illegal weapons left over from the 1992-95 war and tragic incidents are frequent despite several successful campaigns by international peacekeepers and police to get people to hand over illegal weapons.

This might've been different if they stepped on one or activated it accidentally, but these guys were actually playing with it...and they're not that young to not know what a grenade is! They were obviously influenced by Beavus and Butthead, we must censor television! :D
Sucker Punch
07-11-2005, 18:30
Natural selection is a cast iron bitch, innit..?

Not only were the idiots tossing the grenade too dumb to live, but likewise the bystanders. Dude! If someone is toying with an anti-personnel device nearby, there are two, and only two, correct responses:

1) stop the idiot(s), any way you can,
- or -
2) run like hell.

The bystanders chose door 3#, and got the booby prize.
JuNii
07-11-2005, 18:33
Natural selection is a cast iron bitch, innit..?

Not only were the idiots tossing the grenade too dumb to live, but likewise the bystanders. Dude! If someone is toying with an anti-personnel device nearby, there are two, and only two, correct responses:

1) stop the idiot(s), any way you can,
- or -
2) run like hell.

The bystanders chose door 3#, and got the booby prize.
well, can't really blame the bystanders, they probably didn't realize what the kids were tossing, after all, with a grenade, you don't have to be near by to be hurt... they were probably just walking along and not watching the idiots at play...




I hope...
UpwardThrust
07-11-2005, 18:36
well, can't really blame the bystanders, they probably didn't realize what the kids were tossing, after all, with a grenade, you don't have to be near by to be hurt... they were probably just walking along and not watching the idiots at play...




I hope...
True ... walk out from behind a building or shop and not have time to react before it goes off
Lt_Cody
07-11-2005, 18:41
Doesn't say what the bystanders were doing, but still, if you see someone playing around with a hand grenade, you run
UpwardThrust
07-11-2005, 18:42
Doesn't say what the bystanders were doing, but still, if you see someone playing around with a hand grenade, you run
Assuming they saw it

Or had time

Yes

But neither of thoes are garonteed
Sucker Punch
07-11-2005, 18:45
<snip> they were probably just walking along and not watching the idiots at play...




I hope...The more lightly injured..? Yeah, probably. The serious injuries and fatality..? They had to have been much closer. At least based upon usual wound patterns from grenades. While a grenade can be lethal to a distance of several tens of yards, in practice it generally only kills within a half dozen or so yards.

Still, I suppose you've got a good point there.
Deep Kimchi
07-11-2005, 18:48
The typical RGD hand grenade has a 30 percent failure rate - that is, 30 percent of the time, you can pull the pin, release the spoon, and nothing happens.

That said, many were modified on purpose during the Bosnian conflict to have a zero delay (designed to instantly kill the user) so that people would be wary of using them. They also modified some to do so if tampered with - merely handled, instead of used.

This sounds like they found one.

If you ever, ever see anything you think is unexploded ordnance, get away from it and call the police. Don't pick it up. Don't touch it.
The Zoogie People
07-11-2005, 19:38
I can't be the only one who thinks this shouldn't be laughing fodder for readers around the world.