Instead of what he thought was a very large fish, a Florida fisherman netted a live and very unstable air-to-air guided missile that was floating in the Gulf of Mexico, police said.
According to the bomb squad that dismantled it, the heavily corroded missile could have exploded at any moment, but it was kept onboard the “Bold Venture” boat by commercial fisherman Rodney Salomon for 10 days before he returned it to port.
Saloman, 37, from Saint Petersburg, Florida was long-line fishing 80km out in the Gulf from Panama City when he “caught” what was clearly a military ordnance, said the Pinellas County sheriff’s office.
He waited well over a week to return to the Madeira Beach dock, where he notified authorities. The missile was dismantled within hours by bomb specialists at a nearby military base.
The experts said the missile was corroded by its apparent extended stay in saltwater. According to the bomb team “it was live and in a very unstable state,” police said.
Salomon asked the bomb squad if he could keep the missile after it was made safe, but his request was given short shrift.(AFP)
警方表示，佛羅里達州一名漁夫以為自己捕到一條大魚，結果卻是一枚未爆且隨時都可能爆炸的空對空導彈，當時這枚導彈就在墨西哥灣載浮載沉。
炸彈拆除小組表示，這枚嚴重鏽蝕的導彈隨時都有可能爆炸，但它卻被羅德尼．所羅門放置在商用漁船「放手一搏號」上十天後，才隨著漁船返港。
派內拉斯郡警長辦公室表示，來自佛州聖彼得堡、三十七歲的所羅門在巴拿馬市外八十公里的墨西哥灣延繩漁釣時，「釣到」這枚顯然是軍用武器的飛彈。
他過了一個多星期才回到馬德拉海濱碼頭，並在那裡通報相關當局。附近陸軍基地的炸彈專家在數小時內成功拆解了這枚飛彈。
專家表示，這枚導彈在海水中漂浮多時，外觀已嚴重鏽蝕。警方表示，炸彈小組說，「這枚未爆導彈情況非常不穩定。」
所羅門問炸彈小組能否把拆解後的導彈留給他作紀念，但他們並未理會他的請求。（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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