Father and Son Magnet Fishing Grenade Find

Stamp End, United Kingdom A 50-year old man and his 13-year old son pulled a hand grenade from the River Soar while magnet fishing. The two instantly recognized the potential hazard from previous UXO finds while magnet fishing and notified police.

Police, an Army EOD unit, paramedics, firefighters and other agencies responded to dispose of the hand grenade identified as a Mills grenade. A controlled detonation was carried out along the riverbank as the item was reportedly too dangerous to move.

Following the incident, the father posted his find on Social Media with the following comments: "It could have killed someone! We pulled out a live WW2 mills grenade. The bomb squad usually take grenades away to somewhere quiet and carry out a controlled explosion. When the bomb squad examined and x-rayed our grenade they deemed it to be too unstable to move. The grenade could have exploded at any time!! The grenade had to be blown up at the side of the river where it was found. Nearby homes had to be evacuated for safety."