Alarm as fishing mission nets colonial era explosives
The explosives which fishermen netted in Homa Bay County during a fishing expedition on March 16, 2023.
Three fishermen from Homa Bay County were shocked Thursday, when their nets caught metallic objects suspected to be mortar bombs dumped into Lake Victoria during the colonial period.
The fishermen set off in a motor-powered boat to catch sardines but ended up with six metallic objects instead, believed to have been discarded by military personnel.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said one of them managed to safely steer the boat to the shore of the lake, after which they alerted the beach management unit of their strange catch.
The BMU called the police to collect the explosives and open an investigation.
The explosives which fishermen netted in Homa Bay County during a fishing expedition on March 16, 2023.
Detectives from Mbita sub-county contacted their counterparts from the Bomb Disposal and Hazardous Materials to inspect the items and detonate them safely.
They identified the objects as 80mm bombs and took them to Mbita Police Station.
The incident caused panic on Ngodhe Island, with residents fearing the explosives would go off and cause injuries and even death.
This incident was not the first of its kind so Mbita DCI officer Abed Kavoo warned fishermen against tampering with such objects in order to prevent harm.
“Some fishermen are tempted to open the objects, unaware of the danger they are exposing themselves to. Fishermen should be very careful,” he said.
