A MAN is counting his lucky stars after narrowly missing a bomb explosion over the weekend in a valley at Tasahe, West Honiara.
The incident occurred after the man lit a fire to clear a new site for his new garden.
According to residents nearby, the shell exploded on Saturday afternoon, fortunately, nobody was hurt.
They said a man who resides at the other side of the valley set fire to a newly cleared area for gardening when he heard an unusual sound coming from where the fire was burning.
He quickly escaped from the area just a few minutes before the shell exploded.
“It happened around 2 pm in the afternoon. It was a huge explosion and big dark smoke could be seen down the valley.
“A man who resides at the other side of the valley was said to be working in his garden and set fire to an area he cleared for his new garden.
“It was then that he heard a strange sound coming from where he lit the fire, so he ran away just a few minutes before the explosion.
“Thank God, no one was hurt,” the residents said.
The man could not be reached for comments.
The entire Solomon’s archipelago is littered with debris from the war including a large number of unexploded ordnance which continues to sporadically kill and maim locals more than 75 years after the war.
Last year two expatriates were killed due to an explosion of ordnance left from World War II.
This year another explosion occurred involving the remains from World War II which claimed the lives of two people at the Lengakiki area in Honiara.
By CARLOS ARUAFU
Newsroom, Honiara
