A pair of walkers have described how they found a live bomb in the Afan Forest near Duffryn Rhondda. Rebekah Oxley and her partner Harry discovered the explosive in the forestry on Sunday, April 24.
Ms Oxley said she initially didn't know the item she had found in a mound of overturned earth was an explosive device and even handled it while she tried to figure out what it was. She said it was only after sending a photo of the device to others, and noticing a black cap which meant it had not been detonated, that she raised the alarm.
The 27-year-old said she and her partner were interested in 'Mudlarking' and were looking through some excavated part of the land when she noticed the item. Mudlarking is the process of looking through earth - most typically river mud - for items of value that have been washed up or buried. You can get more local news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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She said: "There is a part of the land that has been excavated so I thought there might be some old bottles or something in there. I was looking over the edge when I spotted it. It had white rust on it which is galvanized steel. I was walking towards my partner sort of saying ‘look what I’ve found' when I realised what it was."
She said that while handling the item she noticed it had a cap which typically meant it had not been detonated. Ms Oxley said the pair sent the photo to an online community of mudlarkers to get their opinion. When they agreed it looked like an explosive the pair informed South Wales Police. The police contacted the bomb squad and experts detonated the device on nearby forestery land.
Ms Oxley said this was the first time she had come across an explosive such as this. She said: "It didn’t really sink in until the end of the day. When we got back [to the road] all the residents were out of their houses saying ‘do you know what that was, it sounded like a bomb’ and we could say, well it was. A group of magnet fishers found a live bomb in a Welsh pond - read the full story here.
A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: "South Wales Police was called just after 1.10pm yesterday afternoon, Sunday 24th April, following reports of a suspected incendiary device having been found near Dyffryn Rhondda. A bomb disposal team attended and safely detonated the device."
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