An attempt last Saturday by a Uganda man to recycle an unexploded artillery shell ended rather badly when he ill-advisedly decided to melt it down for scrap, Reuters reports.

Francis Agwoka, acting police chief for the "once war-ravaged eastern Teso region", pretty well summed it up when he told the news agency: "We understand this man picked up a shell and tried to melt it for scrap. He put it in the fire and it exploded."

The Teso region is awash with "mines and abandoned ammunition", Reuters notes, following a 2003 attack on the area by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels as part of a 20-year insurgency which has" killed tens of thousands and displaced nearly two million". Accordingly, and following the recycling mishap, police have warned locals "not to touch unfamiliar metal objects". ®

Bootnote

Thanks to David Hough for the explosive tip-off. As he says: "Don't try this at home."

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