CAIRO: Four people were killed, including a child, and 13 wounded when an old mine exploded in a scrap metal shop in the Mediterranean port of Alexandria on Tuesday, a security official said.
The mine, thought to date from World War II, exploded as workers in the shop tried to take it apart, not realizing that it was explosive.
Three people were killed in the shop, including the shop owner’s son, as well as a 10-year-old boy, who was passing by on the street.
Three of the injured were in a serious condition, the official said.
One of the bodies was unidentifiable because of the force of the blast which caused the roof to collapse and also damaged three parked cars.
Egypt is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world, with millions of Egyptian and Israeli landmines in the Sinai adding to millions more laid in the Western Desert, near Alexandria, during World War II. – AFP
