UPDATE: Bomb detonated in YWP
The bomb was handled by an unknown number of people as it lay outside a house in YWP.
THE bomb found outside a Yellowwood Park home on Thursday, 8 May was detonated by police after it was determined it had been tampered with and was unsafe to transport.
At about 3.30pm, the police provincial task team and explosive experts cordoned off the area surrounding Sunbird Place, after the bomb was found while people were scavenging for items of value left outside a house after its tenants were evicted.
The cap of the live mortar bomb had been tampered with, leaving it volatile and unsafe for transport. Bomb disposal experts made the decision to dispose of it on site in a controlled explosion. No injuries or damage to property were reported.
“Everything was done safely and properly and the police need to be commended for their good response and responsible handling of the situation,” said Chris van Den Berg, Yellowwood Park and Woodhaven sector policing forum chairman.
Witnesses said the road was closed for about 45 minutes and the explosion, which could be heard kilometres away, left their ears ringing.
“The scary thing about all this is we don’t know where the bomb came from and who handled it. Children could have played with it. People in possession of old weaponry, especially explosives, must contact police and hand it over. With age, these bombs become volatile. This was a controlled detonation, but had it gone off accidently it would have caused a much larger explosion, as mortar rounds fragment into many pieces,” said van den Berg.
An incident report was filed at Montclair SAP.
Breaking news: Bomb detonated in YWP [VIDEO].
