An explosive device seized by security officers at an airport in central Vietnam prior to a flight bound for the capital on Tuesday is just a replica of a grenade, the provincial military unit said.
The object, weighing 134 grams, is an identical reproduction of a hand grenade including a safety pin and detonator, Nguyen Hong Son, head of the province’s Military Command, said yesterday, citing the official result.
The fake grenade was transferred to the army's technical division to verify whether it was live after it was discovered among freight aboard a flight bound for Hanoi in the morning by security guards at Phu Bai Airport in Thua Thien-Hue Province.
While the object is non-lethal, it could still have been used to threaten or terrify a crowd, actions that are dangerous for a flight, Son said.
Police in Thua Thien-Hue are investigating the source of the copycat grenade.
The provincial post office said it had received the package from Dong Ha, the capital city of the neighboring province of Quang Tri, and forwarded it to Hanoi as per the sender’s request.
The package was initially delivered from the Hanoi-based warehouse of Lazada, a popular online shop, to a buyer named L.D.T. in Quang Tri.
T. bought the product online, but refused to claim it upon delivery by Lazada to his home.
The Quang Tri post office then had to transfer it back to the sender, with the post office in Thua Thien-Hue acting as the transitional courier.