A 17-year-old youth was killed on the spot and four children were injured this evening in an explosion at the Kandakuli Beach in Kalpitiya in an area which is close to the Civil Defence Force (CDF) training camp.

The explosion occurred when they had picked up an object lying on the beach and thrown it at a dead turtle.

The injured children were admitted to the Kalpitiya Hospital. Two of them who were in a critical condition were later transferred to the Puttalam Hospital.

It is believed that the explosive device was a hand grenade. The police said the sound of the explosion had been heard even at the Kandakuli CDF training camp.

Police said the beach area was cordoned off immediately after the explosion to keep the large crowd of visitors on beach away from the site. A tense situation prevailed soon after the explosion.

Personnel from the Kalpitiya Police and the Navy Camp are investigating.

Police said it was uncertain yet as to how the explosive device had found its way to the beach.(Supun Dias, Padma Kumari,Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe)