A couple of guys magnet fishing sparked a bomb scare after pulling a live WW2 bomb from a riverbed.
Sunday morning, a 22 year old man, Aaron Lewis, decided to go magnet fishing on a secluded area os the River Severn in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
He discovered the shell of a live bomb left over from WW2.
The police was called, and placed a 160ft barrier around the area. Thankfully, the Army explosive control team was able to destroy the bomb by a controlled explosion.
Aaron Lewis made a statement regarding this incident:“I’ve been magnet fishing for a couple of months now, but I’ve only ever pulled out things like old nails.
“I knew there was a possibility that I might one day pull out an old rifle or a knife or something, but I didn’t expect to pull out something that might actually go off.
“I was fairly shocked. I used to be really into World War Two when I was a kid, so I knew what it was straight away – it was clearly recognizable”.
“I just left everything and got away from the bank of the river.”
A Gloucestershire Constabulary spokesman said the fire service and Severn Area Rescue Association were also called in to handle the situation. The public was warned to not go near this area, including dog walkers and fishermen.
“We’d like to thank the local community for their cooperation throughout this and the other emergency services for their assistance.” said a spokesman from the fire service.
While it’s great that this bomb was found, it could have been dangerous. Although magnet fishing can be very dangerous, it does provide many positive environmental benefits.
We fully advocate magnet fishing, as long as it is done in a safe and responsible manner.