An unidentified man from Musina died instantly when a mortar bomb exploded in his hands.

The explosion rocked this normally quiet border town at around 11:00 on Tuesday. The incident occurred near the corner of Ham and Roux Street, a mere stone's throw away from the Baobab filling station.

The police, who were quick to respond, were greeted by a gruesome sight. Human remains were scattered over a large area. They immediately cordoned off the area and started clearing the scene. Eyewitnesses said the scene resembled a war zone.

“People came running to tell us what happened – the guy was blown to bits,” said Mr Doors Visser, manager of the Baobab filling station. This was shortly after the loud explosion.

Provincial police spokesperson Lt Col Ronel Otto stated afterwards that the man had probably mistaken the mortar bomb for scrap metal. She said he had found the bomb along the road near a local scrap-metal dealership.

According to information available, two unidentified men in an old bakkie tried to sell several mortar bombs at the scrap-metal dealership earlier that day. An employee at the dealership, however, realised the danger and refused to buy them. The two sellers left and merely dumped the mortar shells next to the road.

The man killed in the explosion, together with a friend, found one of the discarded shells and took it to a stand some 60m metres away from the street corner. Here the victim tried to open the shell, while his friend went back to pick up the other shells. Moments later, the shell exploded in the victim's hands.

Although the friend escaped unharmed, he was still too shocked to talk to the police by Tuesday afternoon. Otto said they were still trying to confirm the identity of the man who was killed. In the meantime, the police swept the area for more mortar shells. Otto estimated that between 10 and 20 shells were still to be destroyed.

At the time of going to press, the origin of the mortar shells and the identity of the two men who had dumped them were still unknown.