OLD BOMB EXPLODES

Chronicle (Levin), 24 June 1947, Page 6

OLD BOMB EXPLODES

Press Assn.-

Two Men And Seven Boys Blown To Bits. 1

By Telegraph

-Copyright

Eeceiv^d'Moaday, 7 -p.m. ■ " 1 SUVA, June 23. The grim details of a bomh tragedy -at the island of Ko'tuma o'n May 6 when two men and seven boys were Mlled in the explosion of what is believed to have been an Ameriean * '250 pounder jettisoned during the Pacific war by a boinber returning to Fiji, have been re-' vealed ih private letters reaching Suva.It is clear that" neither. the schoolboys nor adults — with the excepti'On of one exserviceman— had the least idea of the danger involved"£n tampering'with the missile, a faet which ehiphasises the need for warning propaganda in all the' inhabited islands ; anywhere o'n the fringes of the vvar zone. ; One man lcillecl was aged 30, married with f our children, and the _other was aged 19. The seven boys, ranging from 11 years to 16, were all pupils at a Eoman Catiiplic school. ' Tlie bomb' was first found by women when fishing. They took it by canoe to a beach and carried it ashore to use as the side of a fireplace. A young exarniy man promptly told them t.o return it to the sea. This was done but lat-er it was found by a man from another village (the eldest of those lrilled) who transported it to his house where, according to one report "it was an objeet of wonder and admiration to the whole village. " Hearing of this the ex-soldier hurried down the coast tq give warning. The bomb was thefi .carried to higli water marlc and lef t unfil additional help came to assist in taking it- out to sea. While the finder, whose name was Tonuava, was talking to the 19-year-old Petero, the boys gajthefed round the bomb and one of them started to chip it with a knif e exposing bright metal in the nose. He was heard to exclaim "this looks like gold, ' ' and ^ second later the bomb exploded. All the boys were killed immediately as wras Tonuava. Petero suffered fearful injurit»s but, still conscious, was able.to tell the story before he died in liospital two hours later. Fragments of the bodies were scattered on the tops.of coconut palms and through the village. A party of village people, just gathered for a feasfc, was stunned and horrified when a liuman leg fell in their midst. Fragments of the bomb have been sent to Suva for examination but no ofiicial report it y.et available.