Members of the police bomb squad dispose of the volatile chemical picric acid with a controlled explosion in a park at The Gap.
A volatile chemical taken to a suburban Brisbane police station could have detonated in transit, officers have warned.
Regional duty officer for the Brisbane Region Inspector Steve Flori said an elderly resident of The Gap in Brisbane’s northwest discovered the substance at a home after her ex-husband – a former chemist – was admitted to hospital. The sensitive chemical could be activated by friction and movement and was used as an explosive in World War I.
“That wasn’t its current application in relation to this couple at The Gap,” Insp Flori said. “But in its current state that we had it, it was highly explosive and the safest option for us was to dispose of that substance via a controlled explosion.”
Members of the bomb squad detonated the chemical in a park next to The Gap police station.
Information and photo from The Courier Mail August 18 2014.