The municipal building of Kensington has reopened the public, one day after a resident left the old military weapons on Monday night.
Two representatives of the Department of National Defense made a trip to the island on Tuesday morning, staying for less than an hour before eliminating the two articles of the Police Department of the Central City of PEI and taking them back to the 5th support base of the Canadian Division Gagetown in New Brunswick.
A World War II mortar shell was finally identified as a failure, without potential to explode, but a half boat containing rocket fuel could have had the power to cause damage. On Tuesday, the police said they were not sure where the fuel had originally come or what was their planned use.
“The mortar seemed something you would see in a movie,” said Kensington police chief Landon Yuill.
“The container looked like a boat. Both were really oxidized, so it shows that they were old, but that’s all we know about them.”
CBC News requested images of the objects, but the application was denied.
Yuill said that articles like this have been delivered to the Kensington police before, as expected, given the number of islanders who served in combat sands abroad.
“Someone, at some point, would have taken them home with them, possibly of the war, and had it perhaps as a memory,” he said.
“We have turned things before, normally something like a grenade that is empty and it can be said that it is a memory. But with this, I did not simply watching it if it was spent or if it was loaded or what it was.”
Yuill had told CBC News on Monday night that the municipal building closed as a caution, which caused a scheduled meeting of the municipal council to be delayed until Tuesday night at 6 pm
Unstable objects
The DND has guidelines on what to do if an explosive ordinance is discovered (UXO).
Time and oxide can make these articles unstable, so people are urged to follow these steps if they discover any.
- “Do not touch it, move it, throw it or hit it with other objects,” it is the first recommendation, saying that it could kill or hurt someone if it explodes.
- Then, the people who take note of where they saw the object are advised before leaving the location in the same way that they arrived in it, and try to prevent someone else from approaching the object while waiting for help.
- “As soon as possible, call 911 or communicate with the local police,” continues the Post DND.
