Panic in Lake Victoria as fishermen net six mortar bombs

By , K24 Digital
On Thu, 5 Aug, 2021 08:22 | 2 mins read
Mortar bombs discovered in Lake Victoria. PHOTO: Courtesy

Six mortar bombs were discovered by a group of fishermen in Lake Victoria on Wednesday, August 4.

On the fateful day, the five fishermen had cast their nets into the lake with the hope of getting a good catch.

According to a report by the DCI, it is during the fishing mission that they discovered that their nets had started becoming heavy, an indicator that a huge catch was in the offing.

As usual, when it comes to heavy catch, they combined efforts to pull out the net and have their luck at hand.

“They exclaimed in satisfaction. The fishermen beamed with excitement at the thought that they had caught a large Nile Perch locally known as Mbuta, that would fetch a handsome pay at the local fishmongers’ market. In celebration, they downed their paddles on the floor of the boat and joined hands in hauling their heavy net back to the craft,” a police report reads.

Unfortunately, the fishermen were left dumbfounded after they discovered that they had netted a huge metallic box instead of a huge fish that would have fetched them good cash.

They managed to pull out the metallic box and broke it to quench their curiosity about what it contained.

“In a bid to discover what was contained in the box, they hastily broke into it only to find six, 60mm mortar bombs, staring at them!” DCI report reads.

“Two fishermen who were shocked by the finding immediately opted to jump into the hippo infested waters, fearing that the bombs would go off,” DCI revealed.

The remaining three fishermen steered the boat ashore and reported the matter to the beach management chairman Isaiah Ouko who informed Mbita-based detectives.

Bomb Disposal and Hazardous Materials counterparts based in Kisumu were thereafter alerted and they rushed to Mbita and took possession of the cache.

DCI says the bombs will be destroyed according to the law once investigations are complete.