A resident of Bulawayo’s Montrose suburb discovered a LIVE grenade while cultivating his field on Monday morning.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) confirmed the incident to CITE, saying a bomb disposal unit was immediately dispatched when the incident was reported to police officers manning ZBC studios in the suburb.
ZRP spokesperson in Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, Inspector Abednico Ncube, said the Montrose resident picked up the grenade, inspected it to find out what it was and then placed it on the edge of his field. He said:
The grenade was found in a bush, along Corner Dundee and Ullswater Road in Montrose.
This person was cultivating his field when he discovered the grenade.
The man then lifted it from the ground and placed it on the edge of his field.
The man went to Montrose Studios to report because he knew there would be police officers.
The bomb disposal unit was sent to the scene and detonated it.
… Members of the bomb disposal unit are professionals and they know what to do in such a situation.
The grenade might have been left some time ago as its age is not known.
Inspector Ncube advised both elders and children to desist from picking up suspicious objects, as these could be dangerous. He said:
Rather leave the object where it is and report to the police so it can be attended to professionally.
Some of these objects like in this case can turn out to be dangerous.
It is common that in most of the instances and in some of the areas where explosive objects have been found, people may pick them up while children play around with them, trying to crush or open it.
We have lost lives sometimes through such negligence.