Prague, Sept 11 (CTK) – The police found objects emitting radiation and a large quantity of ammunition in a flat of a deceased man in Prague Sunday night, due to which 26 people had to be evacuated from the block of flats, police spokesman Tomas Hulan told journalists on Monday.
The flat belonged to a collector of military items, who had no arms possession licence and kept all weapons and ammunition at variance with law, Hulan said.
Along with a bomb disposal expert, a special team went to the place to examine the radioactive objects, he said.
These objects turned out to be minerals and some air navigation devices, all harmless and unable to jeopardise the surroundings.
At first, the collector’s relatives who were vacating his flat, told the police that they may have found a land mine in the flat on Sunday evening.
“A police bomb disposal expert was called in, but he said the object was not dangerous since it was an alternator that is very difficult to distinguish at first sight,” Hulan said.
“When the police were inspecting the flat, they nevertheless found a large quantity of military ammunition in various places in the flat,” he added.
The bomb disposal expert then ordered an immediate evacuation of the whole section of the block of flats. Afterwards the flat search started.
The evacuation ended only after 20:00 when the block’s inhabitants started returning home.
Experts say the uncovered items are WWII ammunition, gun grenades, hand grenades and artillery and imitation ammunition.
“Fortunately, the bomb disposal experts found none of the uncovered items risky or posing a danger that would require to extend the evacuation radius,” Hulan said.
Nevertheless, if the man had wanted to possess all the materiel legally, he would have needed the relevant arms licence including a special exception. In addition, he would have had special premises to keep the materiel in, Hulan said.
The police also searched other two pieces of real estate the collector owned north of Prague, but found nothing dangerous there.
