A grenade was found by facilities workers at Kasteel Well while working in the gardens in front of the Voorburcht, a residence building for students, late Thursday morning.
The device was from World War II and of English origin, Emerson College European Center officials confirmed in an incident report shared with the Boston campus.
“We immediately responded to the report by alerting the Gennep Police Department, the campus’ own internal security, and by immediately creating a safety perimeter around the grenade,” the report said.
The Office of Student Affairs sent a message to an internal WhatsApp group for students and an email notifying students that “a hand grenade dating from WWII has been found in the gardens” and that “authorities have been alerted, and they are on their way to check the situation and if necessary decharge the grenade,” at 11:28 a.m. Central European Time.
According to the report, when police arrived on the scene, they determined “a scenario of sudden detonation was extremely unlikely,” but notified De Explosieven Opruimingsdienst Defensie (EOD), the Dutch National Bomb Squad, “to safely transport and destroy the grenade.”
Until controlled detonation could take place, the police monitored and maintained a safety perimeter, closing off the immediate area to students.
Rob Dückers, assistant director of Emerson College European Center, announced to students in the dining hall at 11:45 a.m. that the laundry room would be closed until the situation was resolved. Dückers said the laundry room’s windows would be in the blast radius of the grenade if it were to detonate, which could result in the windows shattering and harming students.
The incident report detailed that the laundry room was closed “out of an abundance of safety,” and the safety perimeter did not include any classrooms, student dorms, or common spaces open at that time.
“Checks were done to make sure no one was within the closed off safety perimeter. However, based on the police advice, a general evacuation of the building was not deemed necessary at that time,” the incident report stated.
The laundry room was reopened at 1:32 p.m. shortly after the grenade was detonated safely.
EOD agents arrived around 1:29 p.m., confirmed by a group chat message from Dojna Krecu, director of housing and residential life at Kasteel Well, telling students that they may “experience little detonation noise,” but “please don’t be afraid.”
EOD confirmed the origin of the grenade and transported it to an open field across the road from the castle where it was detonated safely, the incident report said.
The detonation caused a small explosion sound accompanied by a discharge of dirt that could be heard and seen from the main gate of the castle.
Following the detonation, Emerson College European Center was given permission to reopen the safety perimeter area, including the gardens, the student kitchen, and the laundry rooms, for student use.
“I’m happy to see that the safety protocols that we have in place worked, that everybody was safe,” Dückers told The Beacon, “[and] that business continuity was not impeded, and that all is well to start our excursion for Rome tomorrow.”
In another group chat message at 1:41 p.m., Krecu informed students that the situation had been resolved and everyone was safe.
Family members of Kasteel students were informed of the situation by the Office of Student Affairs at 11:42 a.m. EST.
