Schoolboys from Harborough pull live First World War hand grenade out of a canal while fishing

Two schoolmates from Market Harborough were stunned to pull a lethal live First World War hand grenade out of a canal after they went magnet fishing.

Kaleb Russell, 11, and his best friend Archie Watts, 12, got the shock of their lives when they hauled the deadly mini-bomb out of the water.

Kaleb’s stepdad Oliver Marabella, who had taken the two boys on the special half-term holiday trip, immediately called police – and sparked a full-scale 999 emergency operation.

Police dashed to seal off the area around Frog Island in Leicester as officers evacuated nearby businesses in case the hand grenade, which was over 100 years old, suddenly went off.

And an Army bomb disposal team raced to take away the Great War ordnance before blowing it up in a controlled explosion.

Kaleb and Archie have now spoken to the Harborough Mail about the canalside drama on Friday (October 23) that certainly livened up their half-term break.

Speaking from their school, Welland Park Academy, Kaleb said: “We just couldn’t believe it.

“It was the first time I’d done magnet fishing in Leicester and we pull out a wartime hand grenade!”

The two youngsters, who both live in Market Harborough, dropped a powerful magnet attached to a rope into the water as they fished for metallic objects on Friday afternoon.

“My stepdad took us, I’m interested in magnet fishing.

“We’d been fishing for about an hour or two – we were looking for anything we could pull out,” said Kaleb.

“We’d found a few bike parts, a sign and a load of scrap metal.

“Then suddenly we yanked out this hand grenade.

“I was quite shocked to say the least.

“My stepdad Oli realised straight away what it was.

“We went back to the car and my stepdad rang 999 to tell the police.

“We then went to get some food.

“And when we got back the police had turned up and the army’s bomb disposal team were there.

“It was a real drama.”

But the dramatic turn of events hasn’t put Kaleb off trying his luck again.

“I’d love to go again,” said the Year 7 Welland Park Academy pupil.

Kaleb’s best mate Archie said: “I was well shocked to see the hand grenade stuck to the magnet!

“It could have been dangerous.

“But the police and the army turned up quickly so everything turned out all right.

“It was an exciting afternoon all right and like Kaleb I’m keen to go again – you never know what you are going to find.”

A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said they got a call just before 3pm on Friday afternoon as Oliver immediately raised the alarm.

“We attended, cordoned off the Soar Lane area of Leicester and called in the Army’s explosive ordnance disposal unit,” she said.

The hand grenade, widely used in the trenches of the Western Front in Belgium and France in the First World War, was then taken away and blown up by the Army’s experts.

Julie McBrearty, the principal at Welland Park Academy, told the Mail: “Both Kaleb and Archie are nice quiet boys.

“We are very proud of the way they acted during this startling incident.

“They are both new additions to our school and they were incredibly responsible and sensible.”

She added: “Kaleb and Archie are a real credit to their families, their school and to Market Harborough.”