THE Ipswich teenager seriously maimed when a homemade bomb exploded in his hands begged his mother to wake him up from the nightmare he thought he was having.

Michael Boggan's hands were almost completely destroyed when another boy handed him a golf ball packed with explosive powder.

He told Nine News that he remembered trying to open a backyard gate without the use of his hands after the bomb went off.

"My mate's dog was trying to eat me, eat my hand," he said.

"When the ambulance was arriving I said to my mum, 'Wake me up, this is only a dream', but it wasn't a dream - it was real."

Michael has been left with the pinky finger on his left hand, as well as a thumb, index and ring finger on his right hand.

"I can't type on a keyboard, I can't write. I don't know what I'm going to do.''

When asked if was angry, Michael said initially no but added that he was a 'little angry'.

News Ltd reported that the 15-year-old had no idea that it was a bomb.

"Tell the kids out there to tell your parents if you find anything unusual. Just don't pick it up at all," was the youngster's advice.

"If you ever find anything with white powder in it with bearings in it, do not pick it up. It is a bomb."

"I had no idea it was a bomb. It just blew up in my face", Michael said.

Fairfax reports that Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale says Michael had claimed on Saturday morning the incident was no accident.



''The boy said to his mother this morning he was just sitting around the table with some other kids when this other kid ... came in and threw the device at him,'' Mr Pisasale said.

Three teenagers were taken to Ipswich Hospital with minor injuries following the explosion and all have been questioned by police, although it's unclear whether any of those injured are the alleged culprit.

Nine reported police saying that there were no indications it was a deliberate attack.

"[One of the boys] threw it at Michael and Michael must have caught it and it's blown up in his hands and blown his hands away," Michael Clifton said.

"Because of his Asperger's he doesn't know what to say and when to say it - and he says the wrong thing sometimes to the wrong people and gets himself into some strife.

Ipswich teenager mutilated in homemade bomb explosion

AN Ipswich teenager suffered horrific hand injuries when a homemade bomb exploded in a Leichhardt backyard this afternoon.

Neighbours reported a massive explosion, which shook properties within 50m of the blast in Dampier St, just after 2.20pm.

Witnesses said a group of youngsters was sitting around a table in the backyard of a home in the street, passing an object between each other, when an explosion left a scene of carnage in the backyard.

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There are fears the 15-year-old who was most badly hurt in the blast could lose both his hands, but police and hospital sources would only say he had suffered "significant and substantial" injuries to his hands.

Francesca Dever, who lives behind the property, said the injured teen was left by others who fled the home after the explosion.

"They were around the table, mucking around with something, laughing and giggling and then bang," she said.

"I went to look through the fence. One kid ran away through the yard."

She said one teen had blood "all over his arm".

Police, fire crews and paramedics raced to the scene and the 15-year-old male was taken by ambulance to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Plain clothes officers were seen leaving and entering the home throughout the afternoon, while outside the property a woman sobbed on the grass.

Blood was spattered across the ground close by.

A PA Hospital spokeswoman tonight said the 15-year-old was in a stable condition, with significant blast injuries to his hands and minor injuries to his chest and sternum.

A second youth was located near the scene and taken to Ipswich Hospital suffering glass fragments from the blast, hearing damage and shock.

Police later found another two teenagers, aged 17 and 18, at Yamanto shopping centre.

Both had injuries to their arms from the explosion and were taken to the PA Hospital.

In Dampier St, Ipswich police called in the bomb squad from Brisbane, fearing there was more explosive material in the home.

The bomb squad arrived at 3.30pm and retrieved several items from the property.

Inspector Keith MacDonald, of Ipswich police, said specialists were investigating what the explosive material was.

He said initial information suggested the explosions were not deliberate, although The QT was told there had been trouble between rival groups of youths in the area.