SANGHAR, Sept 22: Four persons were killed and nine others injured when a mortar shell went off with in the village of Maoo Thakur near Khipro on Thursday.

According to the reports reaching here, the dead were identified as 18-year-old Dileep Kumar, 12-year-old Raja Ramesh, eight-year-old Dileep, son of Hargu, and four-year-old Jhaman Das.

Some children of the village found a ball-like metal piece weighing around 1kg while grazing cattle near the village on sand dunes.

They took it home after playing with it on the way and put it in a slight fire generated for repelling mosquitoes. It blasted in the morning on Thursday killing Ramesh and Jhaman on the spot.

Dileep Kumar and Dileep were pronounced dead in hospital.

Seven goats were also reportedly killed in the blast.

The injured were taken to Hyderabad.

A villager, Udio Singh, said that some children of the rain-affected people, who had arrived in the village a few days ago, had found a ball-like metal near the fire range of Pak Army when they were grazing cattle.

He said the fire range was a few kilometres away from the village where herdsmen of the village graze livestock.

COAS: Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani visited the relief camp set-up by the army here on Thursday.

After briefing, he visited the camp and met rain victims. He also visited the school, dispensary and the water plant set up in the relief camp.

He encouraged soldiers for participating in rescue work and assisting the rain victims.