Bomb left uncollected for weeks after report, police admit error

A bomb reported by a metal detector hobbyist in early April remained uncollected by police for weeks and was later stolen, according to Yle. Jari Salmi of Riihimäki found a what appeared to be a World War II-era incendiary bomb on a clay field near an ice hockey rink in early April. He called the emergency centre immediately, placed the device on a manhole cover for easy recovery, and offered to show police the location. He said the bomb remained on the cover for at least three weeks. Police did not retrieve it.

In May, a separate report of a bomb in the same area led police to issue a public danger warning and cordon off the area. Officers briefly left the scene, and when they returned the bomb was gone. It is now suspected the bomb may be the same device Salmi had found weeks earlier. Police later said a photo of the May bomb closely resembles Salmi’s find.

Police chief Kari Puolitaival told Yle that an initial report about the bomb was received in early April but that police did not find the device at that time. He acknowledged that police should have acted differently. A police officer is now being investigated for dereliction of duty. The person suspected of stealing the bomb is an adult male, police said.

Salmi said he called the emergency centre again after the May news broke but received no callback. “Strange that now all the cats and dogs were out, looking for it with a magnifying glass. There was a month and a half to act, and now it’s a hullabaloo,” he told Yle.