Child loses 5 fingers

Little Lima sleeps while her mother cries quietly at National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation. The kid lost all the fingers of her right hand and suffered injuries to her stomach and left hand yesterday morning when the bomb she picked up taking it to be a ball went off. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Three and a half years old Lima Akhter picked up an object from the street, taking it for a ball. As she started playing with the object, it exploded blowing away all five fingers of her right hand.
Lima, the only child of car driver Mohammad Al Amin, also suffered minor injuries in her abdomen and left hand in the blast near her house in the capital's Uttar Ibrahimpur around 8:30am yesterday.
Now undergoing treatment at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Nitor), she was out of danger. However, all five fingers of her right hand were badly damaged and had to be amputated, said doctors at Nitor.
Abandoned crude bombs have become a major concern for parents, as children have fallen victim to those while playing outside their homes in the capital and elsewhere over the last few months.
Of late, handmade bombs have been widely used in anti-government agitation.
Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker said it is the responsibility of the law enforcers to see whether any bombs are left abandoned in public places and dispose those.
He said he would instruct the law enforcement agencies to beef up vigilance in this regard.
The IGP also said parents, guardians and teachers could help reduce such incidents by making children aware of the danger of picking any unattended objects. The media can also play a vital role.
Lima is the latest victim to join the tally of 13 children who suffered severe injuries in explosions of abandoned crude bombs across the country in the last one and a half months.
One of the victims, Rahima, 9, lost an eye while Tofazzel, 11, lost three fingers of his right hand.
On March 24, two kids were killed as an abandoned crude bomb they picked up mistaking it for a plaything went off.
Lima's father Al Amin said, “My daughter was playing with her friend Sakib in the alley next to my house. When she saw the crude bomb wrapped in red duct tape, she picked it up taking it for a ball.”
The bomb went off, leaving her seriously injured. Sakib escaped unhurt as he was at a distance, said Al Amin, who has been living in the area for the last seven years.
Victim's mother Sohagi Akhter, a garment worker, was at work when the incident happened. She left Lima with her father after serving breakfast.
Sohagi said when both she and her husband go to work, she leaves the girl with her sister-in-law Tamanna, who lives about 100 yards off their house.
Lima's father Al Amin said, “I went to take a bath, leaving my daughter in the room. As I heard the sound of an explosion, I came out and found my daughter groaning in pain.”
Locals and police said a garbage van had been parked at the spot for long, and somebody might have hidden the crude bomb under the van. The girl saw it after the van left the spot.
Kazi Wazed Ali, officer-in-charge of Kafrul Police Station, said police recovered a live crude bomb from the spot. But they were yet to find out who left it there.
None was arrested in connection with the incident.