A LIVE hand grenade, believed to be Korean War era, was uncovered in Derrinallum’s Deep Lake on Saturday, prompting an urgent call to army bomb experts.
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Senior Constable Marty Howells, of Camperdown police, said the 1960 M36 grenade was found about five metres in from the shore line when a Melton man visiting the area was washing his feet after water skiing.
“He kicked over what he thought was a rock and found a grenade,” Senior Constable Howell said.
“If a kid had picked it up there could have been a different result.
“Fortunately it was found in the morning (about 10.30am)”.
The man called Camperdown police, who contacted the police special operations group, which in turn got in touch with the army’s bomb disposal division.
Officers from the division arrived about 3.30pm and rendered the grenade safe before taking it back to their metropolitan barracks for destruction.
“It was a bit of a shake-up for the man who found it,” Senior Constable Howells said.
“If the pin had have been pulled it would have exploded.
“This is my fourth bomb recovery incident for the year.
“There was an aerial bomb, anti-tank shells and another hand grenade.
“At Colac four hand grenades were handed into the police station last month, causing it to be evacuated until disposal experts arrived.
“Our advice is, if you find a bomb or other explosive leave it there and call the police.
“Don’t bring it into the station.”