Two youths aged 19 and 20, one of them from neighbouring 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 2.00am (1200 AEDT) in the western town of Novi Grad at a place in the town centre 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 weapons left over from the 1992-95 war and accidents are frequent despite several campaigns by international peacekeepers and police to get people to hand them over.

Reuters lb

Submitted on 11/05/2005

Submitted by: Toni Mason
Reference: Reuters

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
This is NOT a tragic case of very young children being killed or maimed by leftover ammo from the Bosnian war, this is definitely a case of DA grade stupidity. Most 19-20 year olds know what a grenade looks like and its inherent dangers, and those in a former war zone (where PLENTY of UN warnings about the dangers of UXB's exist) tend to be even more aware. I also find it amazing that they chose a grenade to play with when they could have used pretty much anything else at hand. I vote DA...

Jack said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
The first reading of the story made it sound as if bystanders were hurt. But since it appears as if all of the injured were participants, I'll go for a DA.

Greg said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
Like Jack says, as long as all the dead and injured were active participants then this is Grade A+ stupid. Frankly, if my friends had started playing catch with a grenade when I was 20, I'd have been walking away saying "I'll bring some flowers to your grave!" So in that respect, if they were dumb enough to stand and watch .... well .....

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