Explosive found in Marine Drive: 'Luckily, pin still inside grenade'

Noticing an object in the claw of his excavator, Mr Hasen Didar got out of the machine for a closer look.

To his horror, the thing that he had unearthed was a grenade.

The on-site supervisor working for KSL Engineering had been working on a subcontracted Land Transport Authority project near Block 79, Marine Drive to lay ground wires for a few closed-circuit TV cameras yesterday.

He and the other workers had been there since the start of the week, which had passed without any major incident until yesterday.

After finding the grenade, he gingerly put the explosive on the ground beside him and immediately backed off to call his supervisor.

"It was sheer luck that there was still a pin inside the grenade," he later told The New Paper.

FORTUNATE

A project manager from a company that subcontracted the wiring job to KSL Engineering told TNP that it was fortunate that the grenade did not go off. "I am just happy that nobody was injured," he said.

Yesterday's incident attracted a small, curious crowd.

Ms Cecilia Then, who lives in Block 79, just beside the excavation site, said she was shocked to find out that a grenade had been found so close to her home.

Several onlookers also speculated that the grenade might have been brought there from somewhere else during reclamation works.

A police spokesman said they received a call at about 1.25pm requesting for assistance.

Upon their arrival, it was established that a war relic was found at the location.

Officers from the SAF Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive unit removed the war relic at about 5.35pm.

No danger was posed to the public.

colintzx@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 20, 2014.
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