Venlo man lay down with grenade because cops told him not to move, girlfriend says

A Venlo man who found a grenade on Wednesday evening was instructed by the emergency services not to move after he encountered the explosive, according to his girlfriend. "When he called the emergency services, they said that he had to hold on to the grenade and not move. At one point he just lay down", she said to L1.

The girlfriend denies previous reports that the grenade was found during excavation works on Tuesday and that the man lay down on the grenade for safety reasons. "He really did not want to commit suicide", she said to the regional broadcaster.

According to the woman, the Venlo man encountered the grenade while walking the dog. He noticed something shiny. "When he picked it up he saw that it was a grenade. Because the thing was hissing, he called 112", she said. 

The man then had to wait for hours in the cold for Defense's Explosive Ordinance Disposal team to show up, she said. "He was almost hypothermic. Only after an hour did he get a blanket."

Two apartment buildings on Veestraat and Bachstraat were evacuated. The explosive experts concluded that the grenade did not contain any explosive materials, and the evacuated residents were allowed to return home. The grenade was removed at around 1:00 a.m.