Detonator chord burns Malvern pupil
The boy picked up a cord from the street to finish his school assignment.
THREE Malvern siblings were badly burnt when they unknowingly connected a detonator accessory cord to a set of remote control batteries.
According to Malvern SAPS communications officer, W/O Radhika Marimuthu, a child was walking home from school when he came across a piece of what he thought was electric wire on the ground.
With his school project at the back of his mind, he picked up the cord and took it home. Marimuthu said while his father was watching television, the boy and his brothers tried to finish the school assignment by connecting the “wire” to a set of remote control batteries.
“There was a bang and the one-roomed house was filled with smoke – the boy and his brothers ran out of the house followed by the father. The boy was found by his father on the floor unconscious, a few metres away from the house.
“He was rushed to a local hospital where he was admitted and stabilised, his brothers were treated and discharged. He sustained burns to his hands, chest and stomach,” said Marimuthu.
The SAPS explosive unit visited the scene and reported that the wire was a detonator accessory cord that was used to blow up or detonate huge rocks and mountain paths.
