WWI Grenade Found Among Potatoes At Crisps Factory

A worker at the Calbee Four Seas food processing plant had the surprise of his life on Saturday morning when he discovered what appeared to be a grenade as he was picking out potatoes to be processed into crisps.

Police were called in, and quickly identified the device as a German grenade dating from World War I.

Wong Ho-han, an assistant district commander, said the grenade was determined to be in an unstable condition as it had already been discharged but had failed to explode. The decision was therefore taken to detonate the grenade at the site.

Workers were evacuated as bomb disposal officers detonated the one-kilogramme device at the scene around noon.

Wong said there’s no evidence that any crime had been committed, saying that the bomb had been encrusted in dirt, and was found among a shipment of potatoes from France.

“All the information to date suggested that the grenade was imported from France together with the other potatoes,” Wong said.

He said police would follow up on the matter with other departments.

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