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July 09, 2020

Girl loses most of foot when illegal device explodes in Germantown home

Investigations Explosives
Illegal explosives Philadelphia Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice

The Philadelphia Police Department's bomb squad is investigating an explosion inside a Germantown home on Wednesday night that resulted in a 16-year-old girl losing most of her right foot.

A 16-year-old girl lost most of her right foot from an explosion inside a Germantown home on Wednesday night.

The girl and two other teens were in a second floor bedroom of a home on the 5500 block of Blakemore Street around 8:30 p.m., police said, when an illegal explosive device was detonated, CBS3 reported. 


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The explosion left a foot-wide hole in the first-floor ceiling, police said. Investigators had not determined exactly what type of device was detonated.

"Based on the bomb squad personnel's preliminary information, they say that (it's) some sort of powerful explosive device. It's not commercial fireworks. It is illegal to possess," Philadelphia police Inspector Scott Small told 6ABC

The girl reportedly was taken to Einstein Medical Center and was listed in stable condition Thursday morning. The two other teens in the bedroom were not injured. 

On Tuesday, a 12-year-old boy in Kensington suffered severe injuries when an illegal explosive device detonated in his left hand. The boy was playing with another child when he lit the explosive device, police said. Investigators have not determined the exact device, but believe it could have been an M-80 or an M-1000. 


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