*** WARNING. Teenager killed by grenade Christmas 2020 WARNING ***

[General Apathy]

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Click the link for the tragic story.

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/10/us/Grenade-kills-Virginia-child.html?referringSource=articleShare

 

sad story but a warning to others . . . . . . 

 

 

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[mikie]

Oh man, that's terrible.  

Mikie

[dmar836]

Wow. I smell a militaria collector's tax.

[RDUNE]

Tragic. What a horrible thing to happen to anyone, let alone a kid. 

 

I always worry a little bit about live grenades and live rounds being sold by accident. I was in a local antique mall several years ago and spotted a presumably inert can of tear gas but I didn't look too closely at it. A couple hours later there was a story on the news about the place being evacuated because someone had pulled the pin on a can of tear gas... 

 

[thorin6]

Not to belittle the tragic ending of a life, but there is more to this story.  At this point the BATF doesn't know for sure where the live grenade came from, although they suspect a flea market in North Carolina that may have sold some others.  Until more information comes out one should be careful on how this one spins.  We have all heard or read stories of live ordnance being found in fields and beaches, as well as in veteran's estates.  One thing to remember is that any live ordnance in the US, no matter how old, can kill.

Sad loss of a young boy.

[RWW]

 

1 hour ago, thorin6 said:

One thing to remember is that any live ordnance in the US, no matter how old, can kill.

 

thorin6's words are so true! As the article said, people keep ordinance for what ever reason.  As more and more soldiers pass and footlockers are finally pulled out of the attic and opened, I am sure more live ordinance will be found.  That civil was cannon ball that has been passed down from generation to generation may be full of black powder and is just as deadly today as it was in 1862! 

[gwb123]

When I click on the NYT story link, it tells me I need to subscribe to read more.

 

Can someone copy some of the content to here please?  Thank you.

[RWW]

Below is the best I could do.  

 

 

Boy, 12, Killed After Hand Grenade Bought at an Antique Mall Explodes

 

Officials said that more of the World War II-era grenades, which had been thought to be inactive, may have been sold this summer at an antique mall in North Carolina.

 

The MK2 grenade, a style used during World War II similar to the one pictured, exploded on Dec. 23, killing a teenager in Abingdon, Va.Credit...Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

 

By Bryan Pietsch

Published Jan. 10, 2021Updated Jan. 11, 2021, 3:30 p.m. ET

 

A boy in Virginia was killed two days before Christmas after a World War II-era hand grenade that was thought to be inactive exploded, the authorities said.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the grenade was most likely purchased from Fancy Flea Antique Mall in Shallotte, N.C., in June.

It said that other grenades were “possibly sold from the same vendor in June” and that law enforcement officials were “concerned the grenades purchased from the vendor may contain live explosives and could be hazardous to the public.”

The authorities may be unable to determine the exact number of grenades sold at the mall in Shallotte, a coastal town nearly 100 miles south of Fayetteville, because the transactions were made in cash during the busy summer season, a bureau spokesman said.

 

A similar-style grenade that was sold around the same time “has yet to be accounted for,” the spokesman said.

 

In a statement, the mall said that “there was only one other grenade sold the next day by the same vendor,” that it was “very sorry that this has occurred” and that “we all felt that the grenade was inert.”

The grenade’s chain of ownership before its sale at the mall is unclear.

The MK2 grenade exploded on Dec. 23, killing the boy, the Police Department in Abingdon, Va., a town in southwest Virginia near the Tennessee border, said on Monday.

The police said the boy was 12, though the bureau had said in a news release that he was a teenager. The medical examiner’s office identified the boy as Asher Hurley and said the manner of his death was accidental.

It was not clear whether the boy was the one who had bought the grenade.

Active grenades can fall into the wrong hands after former members of the military keep them as wartime souvenirs, said Bob Morhard, an explosives safety consultant in North Carolina.

 

“Who knows what happens to them afterward?” he said. “Grandpa’s box somewhere, and someone thought they can sell them on consignment.”

The mall should not have taken the device if it was offered, or should have called the authorities to investigate when the grenade came into its possession, Mr. Morhard said.

There are “a lot of subtle cues” that can show whether a grenade is still dangerous, he said.

The grenade that exploded in Virginia was probably noticeably heavy, he said, adding that inert grenades, having been cleared of the explosive material inside, often have a hole to “see in the cavity that it’s empty.”

More than 20 million MK2 grenades were manufactured from the 1920s until a new model replaced it in the late 1960s, Mr. Morhard said. Its “pineapple” casing is “designed to fragment” when it explodes, he said.

A three- to five-second delay precedes the explosion after the pin is pulled, he said. The grenade’s explosion is lethal within a 16-foot zone, Mr. Morhard said, and within a 50-foot zone, injuries can “vary from life-threatening to maybe nothing.”

Michael Levenson contributed reporting.

 

[gwb123]

Thank you.  A sad warning, and a note that even experienced collectors can get fooled sometimes.