KABUL, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Two people lost their lives and seven others were injured in the blast of unexploded ordnance left over from past wars in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, local officials said Monday.
The tragedy occurred Sunday night after members of an impoverished family, who had collected the ordnance along with scrap fuel materials, used it to heat their home in Maiwand district of the province, spokesman for provincial police Mullah Asadullah Jamshidi said.
The two victims died instantly, while the seven injured were rushed to a nearby health facility for treatment, according to the official.
Afghanistan is reportedly one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world, as unexploded devices and mines have been left over from more than four decades of wars and civil strife in the past. ■
