The Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution makes an emergency visit

The child protection team in Gaza governorate, after the Centre was informed by neighbours of an explosion that occurred in the Al-Nasr area near the Italian Complex on the afternoon of Sunday 28/2/2010, verified the news and then the emergency team went to Dar Al-Shifa Hospital to visit the children and spoke with them to learn the cause of the explosion. It emerged that the children, aged between twelve and sixteen, had been collecting pieces of copper to sell, and they numbered five children. While they were looking at the pieces they had collected that day, a piece called an "aerial detonator" fell from their hands, and as soon as it fell it exploded, and as a result two children were injured, leading to the amputation of the fingers of one of them, in addition to tissue lacerations and burns to their feet. The child protection team, led by the coordinator for Gaza governorate, Ms. Manal Zein Al-Din, then provided psychological support to the children and made them aware of the dangers of unexploded ordnance, which is one of the reasons they are in hospital, in addition to making them aware of how dangerous child labour is for them and for their future, and making their families aware too of the dangers of children working with unknown objects without the children knowing how dangerous unexploded ordnance is. At the close of the visit, the free phone number was distributed for help should any psychological problems appear in the children later, and some symbolic gifts were also distributed to the children in an attempt to ease their distress.