Bombshell! Worker kicks UXB! 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
At least worthy of an Honourable Mention, and possibly the best NZ has to offer since the infamous Penis Stapler; We give you, da Bomb.
On 4th August 2003, a 17-year old labourer and his workmates noticed a rusty torpedo-shaped bomb by the road while stopped for lunch in the Manawatu Gorge.
He was quoted by the newspaper as saying;
"We were sitting in the car and another person saw the bomb, so we went and had a look at it, and this fella yells out "Bomb!".
"I didn't think it was a bomb, so I started kicking it."
SAY WHAT!!??
He said he gave it "a few soft kicks" before his boss came over. "My boss told me to leave it."
That's almost certainly not the words he would have used!
At around 2pm they called the Police, the Gorge road was cordoned off, and the Army's Bomb Disposal Unit arrived and safely detonated the bomb at 5.20pm.
It had been live.
The bomb was believed to be an old Air Force marker bomb used for training pilots, designed to release a small charge upon impact, giving off a flash or cloud of smoke when detonated.
It had probably had fallen down into view in a small rockfall, a not uncommon event in the gorge, given that a 5.4 magnitude earthquake centred 30km eastwards had struck at 11:45pm the previous night and may well have helped propel it into notoriety.
Almost as if laughing at Our Staunch Hero, another quake of 4.5 magnitude at the same epicentre was recorded at 2:20pm on the 4th, not long after the stunning demonstration of his skills.
According to the newspaper reporter, he wasn't overly worried after his brush with the bomb. He was just happy to have the afternoon off work. "It made my job easier, I didn't have to do what I was doing."
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS GUY?? FOR REAL!!
Darwin Awards Eligibility;
Not only could he have easily blown important bits off or outright killed himself, but he also risked injury to or death of his workmates and passing motorists from the potential blast damage or resultant rockfall!
Location factoids;
The Manawatu Gorge marks the northern end of the Tararua Ranges and the southern end of the Ruahine Ranges, in the lower central North Island of New Zealand. An Air Force base lies some 35km west.
The Gorge is 15km east of Palmerston North and features rail and road links carved into the rock either side of the Manawatu River which connect the main eastern and western routes up the island.
The land is unstable and rockfalls occur with seismic disturbances, and or spontaneously when enough water seeps into cracks in the shatter zone rock to cause loss of friction between the rock layers.
Geographical factoid;
This is one of the few places in the world where a river horizontally bisects a rising mountain range.
References;
Initial report, Bomb Discovery and Road Closure aired on Radio News Monday 4 Aug.2003
"Gorge closed as old live bomb exploded" is the marvellously laid back title of the full story in all its glory in the local newspaper, Manawatu Evening Standard on Tues.5 Aug.2003 front page, complete with picture of the staunch fellow at the roadblock, but not of the bomb!
"Gorge closed as old live bomb exploded"
Online copy of article Tues.5 Aug.2003 (sadly, without photo);
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/eveningstandard/0,2106,0a6003,00.html
Pahiatua 5.4 earthquake report
www.geonet.org.nz/x2095626g_l.html
Pahiatua 4.5 earthquake report
www.geonet.org.nz/x2095941g_l.html
http://www.manawatunz.co.nz/asp/geography_features_gorge.asp Submitted on 08/05/2003
Submitted by:
Dave Chisholm
Reference:
www.stuff.co.nz 5 Aug.2003
Copyright © 2003 DarwinAwards.com
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