Bomb squad officers evacuate street after man pulls pin on hand grenade in Worcester
BOMB squad officers evacuated a street after a man pulled the pin of a hand grenade.
He was showing his friends the Soviet device when it started making noises.
So he tossed it in the back of his garden and raised the alarm.
Army officers sealed off the road for three hours in Northwick, Worcester, on Sunday before removing the dodgy device.
The grenade’s owner said: “I pulled the pin and it started making noises.
“I noticed something was wrong as soon as I released the safety pin and the spoon sprung off it immediately.
“It made some sort of reaction similar to when a fire work fuse is ignited. It was a spilt second, I immediately threw this at the rear of the garden and evacuated the property and called the police.
“I was told to be minimum 100 meters away and try to alert neighbours. Police arrived within several minutes.
“Around five police cars turned up and about 30 minutes after the RLC bomb squad arrived to investigate.
“He firstly x-rayed the grenade to see if it still had its explosive content left.
“He’s sure it was decommissioned but not certain, so he put it inside what looked to be a heavy-duty explosives box and told me he is going to dispose of it back at base.
“This was brought last year August at Malvern antiques fair.
“A few people were worried in the street. The area was locked for about three to four hours.”
The RG-42 World War Two device, which he got for £30 at an antiques fair in Malvern last year, was found to be safe.
West Mercia Police said: “The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team X-rayed the grenade and found it was empty so there was no need for a controlled explosion.”