Night shift workers at a New Zealand french fry factory were rattled by an unusual discovery last week that ended with a call to the bomb squad.
Richard Teurukura, a worker at the Mr Chips factory in Aukland was reportedly observing the conveyor line when an object caught his eye for being a bit oddly shaped.
100,000 potatoes had just been delivered and were running down the belt when Teurukura saw what he thought was a muddy stone. He retrieved the object before realizing to his horror that it actually looked like a grenade.
After he confirmed his suspicion with some input from a co-worker who had “seen a lot of war movies” he placed the grenade in a cordoned off area and contacted the authorities.
When the bomb squad arrived they confirmed that what they had on their hands was, in fact, an inert grenade, confirmed as a “Mill bomb” – an 80-year-old grenade used in World Wars 1 and 2.
According to the Guardian, it’s actually not uncommon for grenades to be discovered in potato fields in Europe but it’s very unusual to find them in New Zealand.
The plant’s manager said it was the first weapon discovered on the production line in the facility’s 30 year history and that he took a picture and placed it around the factory “so other workers know what to look out for.” He lauded Teurukura for “keeping his cool about the whole thing.”
