World War II artillery shell found among scrap metal in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines — A 155-mm artillery shell was turned over by a junk shop on Saturday afternoon to police in Tiwi town in Albay province after it was found mixed with scrap metal, police said Sunday.

The Provincial Explosive Ordnance and Canine Unit (PECU) said in a report that Alberto Lunay, a 45-year-old scrap metal buyer, turned over to the police station the unexploded shell upon instruction by Jon Jon Dela Torre, owner of Dela Torre Junkshop in Barangay Tigbi at around 3:25 p.m.

Lunay told the police that the shell was about to be loaded to a delivery truck together with other scrap metal when the personnel noticed that it was a bomb.

Members of the Regional and Provincial Explosive Ordnance Units on Sunday morning picked up the UXO for safekeeping and disposition.

The artillery shell, which was used during World War II, was transferred to the RECU in Camp Simeon Ola in this city.

/atm