18 students injured in bomb explosion while receiving military training

[Lite Beer]

18 students injured in bomb explosion while receiving military training

BANGKOK: -- Eighteen secondary school students were slightly injured while receiving territory defence training at the Huay Lao Yang Reservoir in Nong Bua Lamphu's Muang district Saturday afternoon.

Police said the explosion occurred at 3:30 pm while students were using hoes to clear a part of land at the training ground and one of them accidentally hit an old bomb in the ground.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/18-students-injured-in-bomb-explosion-while-receiv-30252124.html

-- The Nation 2015-01-18

[berybert]

These hoes in Thailand are dangerous things.

[docshock13]

Thankfully no fatalities or serious injuries.

[ratcatcher]

Thankfully no fatalities or serious injuries.

Can we presume that the bomb did not explode and that they weren't clearing a minefield using Thai hoes?

[Commerce]

Territorial defence training = Go hoe the lawn!

[JAG]

Not enough conscripts for the fatigues, so we'll get the cadets to do it at the weekend!

[iReason]

"Eighteen secondary school students were slightly injured while receiving territory defence training."

Those kids are 9 to 11 years old.

[lemonjelly]

"Eighteen secondary school students were slightly injured while receiving territory defence training."

Those kids are 9 to 11 years old.

no...it's high school; Matyom 1-6

[iReason]

"Eighteen secondary school students were slightly injured while receiving territory defence training."

Those kids are 9 to 11 years old.

no...it's high school; Matyom 1-6

That would be upper-secondary.

The article fails to mention that.

[Kasset Tak]

"Eighteen secondary school students were slightly injured while receiving territory defence training."

Those kids are 9 to 11 years old.

no...it's high school; Matyom 1-6

Actually they should be in Matyom 4 (-6) so they should be 15-20 thanks to age difference before they can train and be "lada" (army reserve). In prathom they are scouts and that continue until matyom 3.

[BSJ]

Using hos in a minefield. You can't make this stuff up!

[ezzra]

Using hos in a minefield. You can't make this stuff up!

Yep, they had to use the hoes as someone forgot toy bring the picks and shovels...

[Oziex1]

Using hos in a minefield. You can't make this stuff up!

Didn't read anything about a minefield.

What sort of bomb could be struck by a hoe, explode and not kill the person wielding the hoe?

[steveyinasia]

They could sell these to the army as a new bomb detection device, so far it has detected a bomb in 100% of tests.

[Johnnie99]

Using hos in a minefield. You can't make this stuff up!

Didn't read anything about a minefield.

What sort of bomb could be struck by a hoe, explode and not kill the person wielding the hoe?

What sort of bomb?

Why, one made in Thailand!

[slipperylobster]

There they go again, clearing a mine field with a garden hoe.

[45slap]

Should have been the technical college punks.

[Nemesis7]

Are you kidding me/

How come those students were unattended or near bombs without the presence of any WTO? They should get the officer responsible be in Officier/JCO or NCO/ and take him to task.

[duckmandon]

Must have been fireworks?

[JAG]

"Eighteen secondary school students were slightly injured while receiving territory defence training."

Those kids are 9 to 11 years old.

no...it's high school; Matyom 1-6

Actually they should be in Matyom 4 (-6) so they should be 15-20 thanks to age difference before they can train and be "lada" (army reserve). In prathom they are scouts and that continue until matyom 3.

No matter what age, using school children ( which is what they are) for this sort of work is wrong. Allowing them to do so in an area where there are any sort of ordinance or pyrotechnics is doubly wrong. Doesn't reflect well on the professionalism of the outfit conducting the cadet training.

[webfact]

18 students injured in old Chinese bomb explosion



BANGKOK: -- A buried old Chinese M79 grenade exploded at an outdoor army shooting range in Nong Bualampoo province injuring 18 students, four seriously.

The explosion happened at the outdoor shooting range of the 24th Army Area at Ban Phu panthong in Muang district of Nong Bualampoo province.

More than 100 pre-university students from Nong Bualampoo, Udon Thani, Nong Khai and Bung Kan provinces took part in the military training course at the shooting range as part of their mandatory course.

Director of the training centre Col Veerapong Kamsit said the explosion was caused by an old Chinese M79 grenade which was still buried in the shooting range and was not detected although explosive ordnance disposal soldiers have came to clear the area before the training course for students began.

It exploded when a student was using a spade to dig the ground and hit the buried grenade.

All the injured students were immediately admitted to Prachaksilpa army barrack hospital in Udon Thani for treatment, four in serious condition.
Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/18-students-injured-old-chinese-bomb-explosion


-- Thai PBS 2015-01-20

[James Yayo]

Surprised they didn't find a lost Thai military helicopter.

The less interaction my childern have with Thais, especially where the Thais should have some sort of duty of care (alai wa?) the better.

My children will never go to a Thai school and will never be poking around a Thai army ballistics range with a shovel.

[iReason]

Did they use these bomb detectors?

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2013/04/fake-bomb-detectors-years-later.html

[Kerryd]

Inaccurate reporting (and/or translating perhaps). For example, the Chinese don't use an "M" designator for their grenades. The Chinese grenades are Type-1, Type 73, Type 77-1. American grenades however, do use an "M" designator (M67 Frag, M69 Practise, M83 Smoke, etc). A "M79" is actually a 40mm grenade launcher that has been replaced by the M203 (though may be still in use by the Thai military, and the Cambodian army as late as 2008 at least). (M79/M203 rounds also use "M" designators like M433, M651, etc).

The students were digging on a live-fire range, possibly doing trenching/sandbagging/bunker building training. The area had (allegedly) been swept by EOD people who managed to miss an old, unexploded grenade (not a "bomb") buried in the dirt. It happens. We had our (Canadian) engineers sweep an area on top of a bunker we were using for our QM stores in Croatia in the early 90s. A week later the guys were up there trying to cut the grass and hit something. Turns out the engineers had missed a mortar round and an anti-tank mine when they did their less than exemplary sweep.

The grenade had probably been there for years and the safety pin had probably rusted away. The only thing keeping the spoon from releasing (and allowing the striker to hit the fuse) was the dirt it was buried in. People in Laos are still being killed/injured from unexploded ordnance dropped back in the 70s during the Vietnam war. Even stuff dropped during WW II can still be deadly (remember the morons that tried cutting up that bomb they found in Bangkok last year and ended up getting killed when it exploded).

As for the age of the kids, the second article mentions they are "pre-university" students so I'm guessing late teens ? In Canada we have cadets (ages 12-18) and militia (Reserves - age 16+) that get military training (of various degrees and intensity) including being on live fire ranges. In fact, I was almost killed twice by Reservists on the same live fire exercise, just a week after I had graduated from the Infantry "Battle School" (the 22+ week "direct entry" Infantry course that qualifies you as a basic Private in the Canadian Infantry).

The difference is of course that in Canada, military training isn't part of the normal education curriculum (and the Cadets and Reserves are voluntary enrolment). I don't actually recall ever hearing of a similar incident as this so it is a rare, unfortunate accident. Hopefully all the kids survive and the EOD guys that swept the range get their asses kicked by their Sgt Mjr.

[empireboy]

That's why I hate gardening!

[maidee]

time for those pesky thai bomb detectors with nothing inside ..