Pakistan: Shell blast kills 5 children, injures 12; sparks panic among residents

Five children lost their lives and 12 others were injured on Saturday when an old mortar shell exploded in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.The tragic incident took place in Lakki Marwat district, where a group of children found an unexploded mortar shell in the nearby hills and brought it back to their village. According to police, the shell blasted while the children were playing with it, unaware of the fact that it was a bomb.Emergency teams reached the site and transported the bodies of injured and deceased to the nearby City Hospital, officials confirmed.A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed that most of the injured are children with several in critical condition.The explosion has triggered fear and panic among local residents.