Gumleaf
July 28th, 2009, 06:07 PM
06:39 AEST Wed Jul 29 2009
By ninemsn staff
A bomb disposal unit evacuated residents and closed a major highway after a child found an unexploded grenade on the main street of a northern NSW town last night.
Homes were evacuated, a 100m exclusion zone was set up and the New England Highway closed at Willow Tree, south of Tamworth, just before 6pm (AEST) yesterday.
The unexploded device is understood to be a hand grenade that fell off the back of a truck yesterday after an army convoy passed through the town.
"It's not an old war relic, it's a new grenade," Willow Tree local David Warmoll was quoted by ABC News as saying.
"A little boy, only around about eight or nine, he found it on the side of the road and wondered what it was.
"He then went to his father, never picked it up or anything like that.
"He just observed it and then informed his father about it and then [the father] rang 000 and told them of the incident."
The bomb disposal squad assessed the device as being safe and the road reopened at 11.20pm.
The north and south carriageways of the highway were closed as emergency services worked at the scene, forcing motorists to take alternative routes.
© AAP 2009
By ninemsn staff
A bomb disposal unit evacuated residents and closed a major highway after a child found an unexploded grenade on the main street of a northern NSW town last night.
Homes were evacuated, a 100m exclusion zone was set up and the New England Highway closed at Willow Tree, south of Tamworth, just before 6pm (AEST) yesterday.
The unexploded device is understood to be a hand grenade that fell off the back of a truck yesterday after an army convoy passed through the town.
"It's not an old war relic, it's a new grenade," Willow Tree local David Warmoll was quoted by ABC News as saying.
"A little boy, only around about eight or nine, he found it on the side of the road and wondered what it was.
"He then went to his father, never picked it up or anything like that.
"He just observed it and then informed his father about it and then [the father] rang 000 and told them of the incident."
The bomb disposal squad assessed the device as being safe and the road reopened at 11.20pm.
The north and south carriageways of the highway were closed as emergency services worked at the scene, forcing motorists to take alternative routes.
© AAP 2009