Citation

Jadav D, Bhowmik S, Saraf A, Gorchiya A, Meshram V, Shekhawat RS. Cureus 2022; 14(7): e26609.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.26609

PMID

35936162

PMCID

PMC9355268

Abstract

Apart from terrorist and military bombing, accidental blast injuries are the major source of morbidity and mortality in explosion occurrences. In civilian scenarios, it can happen when unskilled individuals handle explosive materials carelessly, often avoiding legal restrictions. We report two incidents of an accidental explosion in which three victims got injured during the mixing of explosive chemicals which are used in an improvised pipe gun to scare away the animals on the farm. In both incidents, the victims were mixing Gandhak (sulfur) and Potash to make an indigenous fire cracker-type explosive mixture. The victims suffered classical low-order explosion injuries. The chemical reaction between the chemicals, the treatment course of all three victims, and medico-legal implications are also discussed in the article.

Language: en

Keywords

chemical accident; explosive agents; gandhak; improvised explosive; potash; sulfur