Five children were injured in Austria when a “wartime relic” beneath their campfire exploded, the police said on Sunday.
The object was under the firepit when it exploded about 8 p.m. local time Saturday, according to a police statement. The accident happened in the Freistadt district, an area in the northern state of Upper Austria, the statement said.
It is not uncommon for unexploded bombs from 20th-century conflicts to be uncovered in Austria, though accidents like this one appear to be rare.
The injured children, whose ages ranged from 10 to 14, were taken to a children’s hospital in the city of Linz for further treatment, the police statement said. The statement did not provide any information about the severity of their injuries.
“How the wartime relics came to be under the fire pit is currently under investigation,” the statement said.
Officers at the scene of the explosion later identified a second wartime relic at a nearby firepit. The police said a team of bomb disposal experts was attending the scene.
The police did not immediately respond to a request for additional information on Sunday.
