An unexploded rusted shell exploded in the Pan-Drass area of Kargil killing a 14-year-old boy from the Rajouri district of Jammu region on Monday late afternoon, official sources said.
They said the boy identified as Ahmad Reza son of Farooq Ahmed of Rajouri was grazing animals in Tar-Gali, Pan-Drass area when he found a rusted shell. The shell exploded when he was fiddling with it. The boy died on the spot.
The unexploded shell is believed to have been present in the meadows since the Kargil War of 1999, sources said.
Shortly after the incident, in charge Police Post Minimarag, Ghulam Mehdi Khan along with the Army rushed to the spot and shifted the dead body to Sub-District Hospital Drass for post-mortam.
In charge Police Post Minimarag told the news agency Kashmir News Trust that during a search operation after the death of the boy, the army recovered two more rusted shells from the meadows. ‘They were destroyed instantly,’ he added.