Girl injured by WWII projectile
A WORLD War II explosive device has left a four-year-old girl and a man with serious injuries.
The pair suffered shrapnel wounds after the projectile exploded at their Port Stephens home on Monday night.
Emergency services were called to the home at Anna Bay on the NSW North Coast about 10pm to find the man, 37, and girl, 4, with cuts.
The man was fossicking on Birubi Beach when he found the old artillery shells and decided to take them home.
They were treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to John Hunter Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Police and army specialists said they removed several items from the home and rendered them safe.
Port Stephens Inspector Alan Janson said Birubi Beach was a former WWII weapons training range and shells were sometimes found.
"Unfortunately one of those items has detonated … they were very lucky they didn't have more life-threatening injuries," he told the ABC.
It is not the first discovery of a WWII device at Birubi Beach, with a dog playing fetch uncovering an unexploded mortar last year.
Police are warning locals or tourists not to touch anything they find and if they do to pinpoint the location and inform them.
