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The Times of India
The Times of India
World
TOI World Desk

This 90-year-old woman in China unknowingly kept using a live grenade as a kitchen hammer for over 20 years

Sometimes the most dangerous discoveries hide in plain sight. In central China, a 90-year-old woman spent nearly two decades using what she believed was an ordinary piece of scrap metal as a household hammer. The heavy object cracked walnuts, crushed red peppers and drove nails into wood without ever causing concern. It had been picked up from farmland and seemed sturdy enough for everyday chores. Only when demolition workers visited her home in 2024 did the truth emerge. The metal tool was not a hammer at all but a live military hand grenade that had somehow remained unexploded despite years of repeated impacts. The discovery left even bomb disposal experts astonished. Local authorities quickly evacuated the area and safely destroyed the vintage explosive, bringing a peaceful, and long overdue end to two decades of daily Russian roulette.

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