Russian teen killed gathering scrap on military firing range

One teenager was killed and two more were injured on Sunday in an explosion on a firing range in Trans-Baikal region, Russian investigators said.

“On 22 May, 2011, a 13-year-old seventh-grade student and two 11-year-old fifth graders were collecting scrap metal at the firing range of a military unit located 13 kilometers from the town of Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky in the Trans-Baikal region,” the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation said in a statement on the preliminary results of the investigation into the boy’s death.

“They found a metal object resembling a bullet. The oldest boy took it in his hands and began to heat it up with a cigarette lighter, with the result that the cartridge exploded,” the statement said. “The child died on the spot. His friends received multiple injuries and were taken to a hospital.”

Investigators added that a check on the boys’ homes turned up one live round and several items that experts identified as parts of pieces of ammunition.

The investigation is continuing.

MOSCOW, May 22 (RIA Novosti)

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