ARCHIVED - Artillery shell with explosive charge intact found in Fuente Álamo
GEDEX has already removed and destroyed the 30-centimetre long artifact
It is a surprisingly frequent occurrence for artillery shells and explosives to turn up in the most unexpected places around the Murcia region, due principally to the Spanish Civil War, and not uncommon for builders to discover unexploded shells when digging trenches or building houses.
This latest shell was discovered by a farmer when he was carrying out tillage work on an agricultural farm in the municipality of Fuente Álamo.
Local police went to inspect the object which had surfaced, and after seeing the images, members of the Group of Specialists in Explosives Deactivation (GEDEX) of the Guardia Civil verified that it was an artillery projectile, 30 centimeters long and that, despite its poor state of preservation, its explosive charge was intact. As the material was in a hazardous condition, the projectile was moved to land close to where it had been found and a controlled explosion was carried out.
The Guardia have reiterated that anyone finding such an object and suspecting that it could be explosive should take a photograph GPS coordinates thorugh a mobile phone device, but do NOT touch the object and call the 062 emergency number immediately.
Keep away from the object until specialists arrive at the scene.
There have been many instances of members of the public driving down to the police station with an unexploded artillery projectile in the boot of the car, and indeed, several cases of shells exploding when moved by a member of the public, sometimes resulting in fatalities.