A Nanaimo man was taken to hospital for a serious hand injury after a can of gunpowder exploded in his hand while he tried to pour it over an open fire.
Nanaimo RCMP says officers responded to a house in the 900-block of Spring Place shortly after 10 p.m. on Wednesday night after neighbours reported the sound of a loud explosion.
When officers arrived, the fire was still burning and only one man remained at the house, the two other men had already driven to the hospital.
According to police, one of the men “thought it was a good idea” to pour gunpowder out of a metal can onto the backyard fire.
When he did so, the fire travelled up the gunpowder and back into the can, causing it to explode in his hand.
“He suffered a very large, significant, serious laceration on his palm,” said Const. Gary O’Brien, media relations officer for the Nanaimo RCMP. “He was taken to the hospital by his friend that was present. He required a significant amount of stitches.”
Police then went to the hospital and spoke with the victim, who confirmed that the injury was caused by his own actions.
While in the backyard of the house, police noticed a still for distilling alcohol.
“That’s an offence, to distill alcohol without a valid licence,” said Const. O’Brien. “He agreed to dismantle it and recognized the errors of his ways, and so we decided his lacerations were probably enough penalty, so we didn’t pursue any charges about the still.”
Police say that alcohol might have been a contributing factor to the incident.
The man is not facing any other charges.
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Rebecca Lawrence
