An unexpected explosion led to six people being injured at a Sambo event in Russia.
There are dozens of combat sports events every day ranging from children’s jiu-jitsu tournaments to professional MMA fights. Most of them don’t receive worldwide coverage unless something unforgettable happens, regardless of if it’s positive or negative.
On Saturday, February 17, a local youth Sambo tournament took place in the city of Melitopol, Ukraine, which is controlled by Russia. According to Atlas News, Russian soldiers attended the event and brought a grenade launcher to impress the kids.
As one would expect, things didn’t go as planned. In the middle of a Sambo match, the grenade launcher went off accidentally and created a massive explosion. Everyone cleared out of the room quickly, with six people left wounded. Luckily, there were reportedly no fatalities.
Watch the shocking footage of the explosion and immediate reaction below:
A grenade launcher exploded at a school in occupied #Melitopol
According to the Kremlin media, one of the spectators brought a hand grenade launcher to a children's judo competition and accidentally fired it.
Six people were lightly injured. pic.twitter.com/rTaHN3BSxc
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) February 18, 2024
Ukrainian official releases statement about grenade launcher incident at Sambo tournament
At first, the video of the grenade launcher explosion went viral on social media without context. Therefore, it was unclear if the act was intentional and how many people were affected. As previously mentioned, Atlas News reported there were no casualties.
Atlas News also provided a statement from Ivan Fedorov, the head of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration:
“Residents have reported that an explosion occurred today during a sports competition in Melitopol’s Sports Facility No.3, which was soon followed by the urgent evacuation of children from the building. Ambulance cars and police arrived at the scene. The building was, of course, cordoned off, and the window panels were blown out.”
While the footage is disturbing, there is relief that no children were killed in this unfortunate situation. Maybe next time the Russian shoulder will leave his grenade launcher at home instead of an innocent children’s Sambo tournament.
Is it time to ban assault grenade launchers from Sambo tournaments? 🤔
— Rubot (@rudestbot) February 20, 2024
