Don’t toy with a grenade!

ZAMBOANGA CITY — A man toying with a fragmentation grenade learned a lesson too late when the explosive went off, killing him and injuring 11 others in Aurora, Zamboanga del Sur on Christmas Day, the military said.

Authorities said the fatality, Ronald Cagais, might have thought that toying with the grenade would amuse those around him, but tragedy struck.

Capt. Charlemagne Batayola, deputy spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, said Cagais was having a drinking bout with friends in Sitio Lusno, Barangay Balas in Aurora town when the tragedy happened.

Those injured, who were rushed to the Auroran Hospital, were not immediately identified.

Batayola said some of the injured are still in critical condition due to multiple shrapnel wounds.

"Perhaps, this tragic incident will remind civilians to avoid possessing war materials," Batayola said. — Roel Pareño