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Police Start Urgent Hunt For Bomb Left On Wall Over Fears Someone Took It Home

Police Start Urgent Hunt For Bomb Left On Wall Over Fears Someone Took It Home

The wartime bomb was found in a river

Amelia Ward

Amelia Ward

A hunt is underway to find a bomb that mysteriously went missing after it was discovered in a river.

The wartime device was discovered by a fisherman, but was left on a wall while police made their way to it.

But officers fear someone has taken the explosive shell home with them after finding it by the waterway in Dartford in Kent.

It's not confirmed whether the item is dangerous or not, but officers are keen to find out what has happened to it to make sure it is disposed of safely.

Kent Police Inspector Shona Lowndes said: "Explosives experts have not yet had the opportunity to inspect and assess whether this item is harmless or poses any dangers.

"We cannot discount that someone may have picked it up and perhaps taken it home or left it somewhere else.

"Anyone who has had contact with this item, or knows of its whereabouts, is urged to contact police immediately."

PA

The item was discovered on Sunday afternoon (22 November), with police called to the location at 5.40pm. The bomb disposal unit was called after seeing a video of it, with them believing the object is a wartime shell.

On the video, it was shown to be a 3ft (1m) long cylinder shaped object and was left by the river until officers could get there.

Although they attended at 5.52pm, the device had already disappeared, with police carrying out an extensive search of the area.

Despite bombs from WWII often not being dangerous, on occasion, they are still active.

In October, a 5.4-tonne Tallboy bomb exploded after demolition experts tried to neutralise it.

It was found in September 2019 beneath a waterway leading to the port of Szczecin, in Poland.

But the bomb containing 2,400kg worth of explosive went off, causing a huge blast.

Fortunately, Navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Grzegorz Lewandowski confirmed nobody was hurt.

Divers were a safe distance away as they attempted to defuse the bomb through remote deflagration, whereby the explosive charge is burnt without causing a detonation (if successful, that is).

More than 750 residents had also been evacuated from the area near the Piast Canal, outside the town of Swinoujscie, with authorities imposing a 2.4 kilometre exclusion zone around the bomb.

Lt. Cmdr. Lewandowski said: "The deflagration process turned into detonation.

"The object can be considered neutralised, it will not pose any more threat to the Szczecin-Swinoujscie shipping channel.

"All divers were outside the danger zone."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: UK News, crime