Catch leaves fisherman shell shocked ...
Print Edition
A SHANGHAI fisherman got the shock of his life yesterday when he dragged up a box of 16 anti-aircraft shells from the Yangtze River yesterday morning.
It is believed the shells were from the Battle of Shanghai, a 1937 conflict in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
The fisherman, surnamed Li, found the heavy iron box in his net about 8am yesterday near Sanjia Harbor in the Pudong New Area when he was trying to catch seafood for a Mid-Autumn Festival dinner with his family, news website thepaper.cn reported.
Curious about what was inside, he took an ax to the box and then panicked when he spotted the shells inside. He immediately called police.
They found the shells still contained gunpowder and could explode so evacuated nearby residents and called in the fire brigade to transfer the shells to a special warehouse for dangerous materials.
Police said the shells were badly rusted after decades of being in the river. They were 45 centimeters long and 7 centimeters in diameter and marked with the Chinese characters for China and Shanghai.
An expert with the fire brigade said the shells could be anti-aircraft artillery shells made in Shanghai and left over after the Battle of Shanghai. They were used to shoot both aircraft and ships during the conflict.
The battle ran from August 13 to November 9, 1937, and is regarded as one of the major conflicts in the war. It involved about 1 million soldiers from the two sides, of whom more than 350,000 were killed.
Police said the Sanjia Harbor area where the shells were found was where many creeks connected with the Yangtze.
They found five anti-aircraft shells there early last year and a 50-centimeter torpedo at a nearby construction site last October. A 40-centimeter high explosive shell was found by another fisherman in 2012 and he had kept the dangerous shell on his ship for several days.
Police said anyone finding similar items should get in touch with them immediately.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
