1,000 Illegal Toy Bombs Seized After Device Explodes in Girl’s Hands

About 1,000 toy bombs have been confiscated after one of the explosives detonated in a girl’s hands, authorities said Friday.

The San Jose Police Department’s bomb unit said the illegal toy, called Bomb Bag, contains several chemicals that explode when mixed. Instructions warn the user that the bag will explode five seconds after it is squeezed.

The Mylar-wrapped, hand-size bag shows military symbols such as tanks, planes and guns with the words Bomb Bag written in red lettering. The toy was being sold three-for-$1 from an ice cream truck.

Officials said the explosion is comparable to a firecracker.

A 12-year-old girl apparently saw a youth place the bag in a mailbox and run away. The girl removed the bag and it exploded in her hand.

“The girl was more frightened than hurt,” said Sgt. Robert Beams, a spokesman for the department. She told officers that she felt a sting in her hands like a hard slap.

Police said the bag contained a white crystalline powder and a clear, golden-brown fluid. When the two chemicals mix, they create a gas that causes the bag to explode, Beams said. Officials were examining the chemicals, he said.

The distributor handed over the toys Tuesday and apparently did not know they were illegal, police said. It is unknown how many of the Taiwan-made toys have been sold.

No arrests have been made, Beams said.

California law prohibits a person from owning a device that explodes as a result of a chemical reaction.