Two bomb experts examine a 500kg live bomb that was found underwater by fishermen in the Indian Ocean near Fort Jesus April 3, 2012. Panic hit Mombasa town after the discovery of the bomb with capacity to flatten the island. LABAN WALLOGA.
By BOZO JENJE bjenje@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, April 3 2012 at 16:48
Posted Tuesday, April 3 2012 at 16:48
Panic hit Mombasa town Tuesday afternoon after a large metallic object harvested by fishermen in the Indian Ocean turned out to be a live 500kg bomb with capacity to flatten the island.
An initial assessment by bomb experts, who rushed to the scene, dated it 50 years back to the two world wars of which the East African coastline was one of the theatres.
The two fishermen Omar Ali and Yakub Twalib, said they were certain of two other similar objects around the same area where they had picked the bomb.
Coast Provincial Anti-Terrorism Unit boss Elijah Rop, who was among the first to arrive at the scene, confirmed the deadly find and told the media that the explosive had been spotted by the fishermen off the Coast of Mombasa.
“The bomb was picked by fishermen who assumed it was scrap metal that they could use for commercial purposes,” Mr Rop said.
Unaware of their deadly catch, the fishermen hauled it ashore to a flat patch of land at the foot of Fort Jesus.
Police had a hard time controlling the surging crowd after news of the find spread.
They alerted the National Museum of Kenya staff of the find. This is official requirement as the zone is watched over by the NMK as a protected area because it is rich in underwater archaeology.
However, after viewing the strange-looking object, the NMK officers became suspicious and instead opted to alert the police who arrived a short while later and confirmed that it was indeed a bomb.
The bomb’s casing had been corroded, apparently by the salty sea water, causing the security officers to fear that exposure to the sun could turn out to be risky.
Mr Rop, who was accompanied by three bomb experts, alerted the Kenya Navy who were expected to send a vessel to carry the bomb back out into the sea.
“The location is unsafe. We will have to take it away to a safer place, far from the population.
“This type of bomb can cause great damage within a radius of 3 kilometres,” he said.
He said possibilities of such bombs being out there in the deep sea could not be ruled out because the East African coastline was a war zone in the two world wars.
“At the moment, we cannot say what type of bomb it is as we do not have its serial number or any marking,” he said.
Mr Rop warned the milling crowd to keep their distance and report to police any such strange metallic objects.
“In case you see unfamiliar metallic objects such as this one do not disturb the object but give information to police for action to be taken to avert disasters,” he said.
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