Two minors were killed while their mother and two sisters were injured when a fragmentation grenade they discovered in a cornfield exploded in Brgy. Libertad, Escalante City, Negros Occidental yesterday.

Killed on the spot were Allan Catipay, 15, and his brother, Alano, 14.

Escalante City police chief Mateo Maguate yesterday said the explosion also caused injuries to the teenagers' mother, Merle Catipay, 35, and their sisters, Marianne, 10, and Maryann, 12.

Police investigations show that Alano was tilling the soil of their corn farm in Sitio Sampinit 2, Brgy. Libertad, about 14 kilometers from the city proper, when he unearthed the corroded MK-29 fragmentation grenade.

Maguate said Alano called his elder brother, Allan, and played with the grenade.

Out of curiosity, Alano placed the grenade on the ground and struck it three times with a stone, causing it to explode, Negros Occidental police director Charles Calima said.

The explosion killed Allan and Alano on the spot, Maguate added, while their mother and two younger sisters who were resting inside a shanty, about two meters away from them, were also hit by shrapnel.

Alano's face and both his hands were blown off by the explosion. Allan sustained fatal injuries in different parts of his body, Maguate also said.

The three survivors are now being treated at the Vicente Gustilo District Hospital in Escalante City.

Recovered from the scene by responding Escalante policemen were fragments of an MK-29 fragmentation grenade.

Meanwhile, policemen were relieved yesterday when the aerial bomb recovered from a junk shop in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, turned out to be empty of gunpowder.

PO3 Santiago Cabangal, Talisay PNP Desk Officer, yesterday said there is no cause for alarm to Talisaynons.

The bomb, estimated to be two feet long, weighed 28 kilos and had a diameter of 10 inches. It is believed to be among those dropped by bomber planes during World War 2 in Negros Occidental, Talisay police chief Jerry Bartolome said.

Police investigations show that the aerial bomb was sold to a junkshop owned by Joel Desales in Talisay City last month.

The aerial bomb, which was inspected by bomb expert Demy Montoya, is now in the possession of the Talisay police.*GPB

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