The Marion County Sheriff says an explosion that killed a woman at a home in Knoxville, Iowa Saturday afternoon was caused by family members who inadvertently created a pipe bomb.
56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer, died instantly when a piece of metal debris from the explosion struck her in the head at a gender reveal party.
Sheriff Jason Sandholdt says five family members and the expectant mother of the Kreimeyer family placed gunpowder in the bottom of a homemade stand that was welded to a metal base plate with a hole drilled in the side for a fuse.
Tape was then wrapped over the top of the metal tubing also containing colored powder, creating what became a pipe bomb.
Instead of the gunpowder shooting the powder out the top of the stand, the stand exploded sending metal pieces flying.
Pamela Kreimeyer, a wife, mother and grandmother, was standing with other family members 45 feet from the device when the explosion took place.
The projectile that struck the victim then continued another 144 yards through the air coming to rest in a field.
The incident remains under investigation.
