Man lucky to be alive as grenade found on beach
A LIVE hand grenade is detonated in a controlled explosion on a Cornish beach.
Oolice said a man was “lucky not to have been killed” after stumbling across the hand grenade on Mawgan Porth beach on Friday.
The Royal Navy EOD team along with Falmouth Coastguard and police officers were all called to the beach near Newquay after a 999 call.
Regie Butler-Card, police inspector for Bodmin and Wagebridge, said a man was searching the beach when he ‘located an unusual object’.
Insp Butler-Card, part of the Coastguard team, tweeted: “After splitting it with spade realised it was live hand grenade! Very lucky not to have been killed! If you find something don’t take chances, dial 999 & call Coastguard. Great work by @RoyalNavy EOD.”
A spokesperson for the UK Coastguard told CornwallLive they were informed by the police to the potential explosive device at about 1.50pm on New Year’s Day.
The spokesperson said: “A member
of the public located a suspected ordnance device on Mawgan Porth beach.
“Newquay and Padstow rescue teams assisted the police and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit (EODU) in putting up cordons and clearing the beach.
“EODU undertook a controlled detonation of the ordnance.
“The object was detonated at about 3.15pm.”