Mombasa fishermen recover ancient 500 kilograms bomb

coastweek.com

Experts 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 two world wars
 

MOMBASA (Xinhua) -- Mombasa fishermen have discovered a 500 kilograms of bomb at a tourist attraction site, probably left behind during the colonial days.

Kenya Navy, bomb experts were late Tuesday in the process of detonating device in the sea which was discovered at Fort Jesus as it might affect 3km radius if blown up on land.

The two fishermen were on a fishing expedition in the Tuesday morning when one of them dived into the deep sea and discovered three metallic objects at the sea bed.

"My partner and I were fishing for lobsters.

"I dived into the water and at the sea bed, about 15 feet inside I saw the three metallic objects," said Omar Ali, one of the fishermen.

Ali wanted to remove the object so they could sell it to a scrap metal dealer but his partner advised that they take it to the National Museums of Kenya officials at Fort Jesus.

The fishermen used some rope and two buoys to lift the bomb to the surface. At one point, its weight almost sunk the fishermen’s boat before they managed to take it to the sea shore.

Experts said the 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.

The officials immediately suspected the 500kg metal could be a bomb and they called the Kenya Navy.

Mombasa Anti-Terrorism Police Unit head Kipkemoi Rop said the bomb is still live although its percussion has been removed.

He said it is the kind dropped from planes.

"Percussion is where a bomb is hit before it explodes.

"But it is still live," Rop told journalists in Nairobi.

The bomb was picked by fishermen who assumed it was scrap metal that they could use for commercial purposes," he said.

He said the bomb may be a remnant of the Portuguese and Arab war around 1498.

A similar incident happened years back where a fisherman stumbled upon a metallic object and took it to Kongowea where he wanted to sell it as scrap metal.

But it exploded and killed several people.

The bomb experts said they may start evacuating the remaining two bombs at the sea bed on Wednesday.

Rop 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.

The incidents came three days after unknown persons hurled twin blasts in the coastal of Mombasa killing at least two people and injuring 33 others.

The incident also comes as police are still questioning dozens people in Mombasa who could be behind the twin attacks in Mtwapa, about 15km north of Mombasa town and View Bar in Tononoka grounds in central Mombasa.

There has been a string of attacks by Al-Shabaab militants and their sympathizers since Kenya sent troops into Somalia on October, 2011 to subdue the insurgents who were blamed for a series of murders and kidnappings on the Kenya soil with Daadab district which hosts.

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