THE loud boom at the multi-story carpark was followed by a small mushroom of grey smoke

Mr Xu Shao Xing, 58, then saw a group of teenage boys running down the stairs of the carpark, reported Shin Min Daily News.

They were wearing their school uniforms and were running in different directions.

Mr Xu, whose fruit stall faces the carpark, said his first thought was that the boys had been up to some mischief.

He and two of his colleagues then chased them to stop them from escaping.

It turned out that the boys had been playing with a home-made bomb.

They tied a bundle of sparklers to a can of compressed gas, setting off an explosion.

There was no fire and no one was injured.

The incident happened at Block 2A Lorong Liew Lian on Monday at around 4.40pm.

The group of boys had gone to the fourth floor of the carpark, which was deserted at that time.

A police spokesman confirmed the incident and said that they are investigating the case.

She added that seven boys in their mid-teens have been arrested for the offence of negligent conduct in relation to an explosive substance.

The New Paper understands that the boys are students from a nearby secondary school.

The police went to the school yesterday morning to question some of the students.

Mr Xu said that some of the boys had fled in the direction of his fruit stall. He managed to stop one of them while his colleagues caught two others.

Said Mr Xu: 'We then made them write down their names and told them to wait for the police.

'But they slipped away while we were not looking. When the police arrived shortly after, we handed the list of names to them.'

Packets of fire sparklers - used and unused - and two cans of compressed gas were left at the fourth floor.

Police cordoned the scene and combed the area for a few hours to ensure that there were no other explosives.

Mr Xu said: 'These students were so mischievous. Didn't they know that it's very dangerous to play with such explosive things?'

The incident happened just hours after the police released its annual crime figures, which showed an increase in the number of incendiary and explosion cases involving the use of sparklers.

There were 43 such reports last year, up from 32 in 2006, and 57 offenders were arrested. Out of these, more than 8 in 10 were youths.

This article was first published by The New Paper on Jan 23, 2008.

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