HAND GRENADE FOUND IN MAN’S LUGGAGE AT BLOEMFONTEIN AIRPORT

The Bram Fischer Airport in Bloemfontein has been evacuated after a hand grenade was discovered.

The drill hand grenade was allegedly found in the luggage of a 28-year-old man on Monday. He was on his way to Cape Town when he dropped off his bag at the airport’s check-in counter.

The man’s luggage was then put through an x-ray scanner where a security officer noticed the round metal object and alerted the police.

Free State police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Thabo Covane told News24 that “the security officer physically searched the bag and found the drill hand grenade. At the counter, there are pictures with messages of prohibited objects that passengers cannot board the flight with or bring to the airport”.

The police were immediately called to the counter and decided to evacuate the airport due to their safety concern for the other people inside the airport. The Bomb Disposal Unit was called to the scene and did a sweep of the building to declare it safe.

Operations continued as normal, and the man was arrested. He is expected to appear in court soon.

Image credit: The Citizen