Banned ‘carbide gun' leaves 14 children blind in Madhya Pradesh Diwali tragedy

Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal has reported 26 children admitted with severe eye injuries caused by the ‘carbide gun’ trend.

A deadly new trend fuelled by social media has left more than 120 children across Madhya Pradesh with severe eye injuries this Diwali, with doctors confirming at least 14 have lost their eyesight permanently. The culprit, according to an NDTV report, is a crude, homemade device known as a "carbide gun" or "desi firecracker gun."

Hospitals in Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur and Gwalior have been inundated with young patients, their eye wards filling up over a harrowing 72-hour period.

Bhopal's Hamidia Hospital alone admitted 26 children, many of whom are now facing lifelong consequences from what authorities are calling an "improvised explosive" disguised as a toy.

The devices, selling for as little as Rs 150 in local markets, are a lethal blend of curiosity and chemical reaction. Constructed from plastic or tin pipes, they are filled with a volatile mixture of gunpowder, matchstick heads and calcium carbide.

When ignited, the contraption does not produce a colourful sparkle but a violent blast, propelling metal fragments and burning gas directly towards the user's face.

Dr Manish Sharma, the Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) at Hamidia Hospital, reportedly issued a stark warning to parents, explaining that the device causes direct damage to the eyes. He stated that the explosion releases metal fragments and carbide vapours that burn the retina, leading to ruptured pupils and permanent blindness in several of the cases they are treating. Some of the young victims are being treated in intensive care, with medical staff fighting to save what remains of their vision.

The human cost of the trend is devastatingly clear. Seventeen-year-old Neha, now recovering at Hamidia Hospital, recounted through tears how a homemade carbide gun explosion completely burned one of her eyes, leaving her unable to see.

Another victim, Raj Vishwakarma, admitted he was inspired by online videos to make a firecracker gun at home, an experiment that ended with the device exploding in his face and causing him to lose an eye.

Despite a government ban issued on October 18, these "mini cannons" were openly sold in markets, with the district of Vidisha emerging as the epicentre of the crisis. The NDTV report revealed that local markets continued to flout the ban, leading to immediate police action. Vidisha police have since arrested six individuals for illegally selling the devices.

Inspector RK Mishra reportedly confirmed that "immediate action has been taken," and promised that "those responsible for selling or promoting these carbide guns will face legal consequences."

The real accelerant for this dangerous craze, however, appears to be digital. Videos tagged as the "Firecracker Gun Challenge" have gone viral on platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, showing teenagers firing the hazardous guns for likes and views. This online promotion has transformed a fundamentally unsafe device into a Diwali "must-have" for the state's youth, with tragic results.