The State : 7 Boys Hurt as ‘Toy’ Explodes

Seven boys were injured, two critically, when an explosive device went off as they were playing with it on an apartment building balcony in Richmond, authorities said. The blast blew at least two of the youngsters “clear off the balcony,” of the two-story building, said Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Schott. The device may have been an “M-1000”--equal to a quarter-stick of dynamite--or a barrel bomb, authorities said. At least one of the youths, age 10, was critically injured with an open chest wound and an 8-year-old boy was in danger of losing a hand, and several others suffering facial burns may lose their sight. The device--a cylinder 2 1/2 inches in diameter--exploded when the boys, aged 4 to 14, were gathered around it, stuffing lighted matches into its center, investigators said. The boys found the explosive under a boarded-up house in the neighborhood, deputies said.