It turns out that putting a Cobra 6 in water is extremely dangerous. An employee of a gas station in Maarheeze did it on Sunday evening with her best intentions, but according to the police it is even more dangerous. But why? And what should you do with it?
Let’s take the discovery at the ‘t Haasje gas station as an example. A visitor finds two Cobras 6 in the trash can, takes them out and gives them to a gas station employee. He calls the emergency services and places the Cobras 6 in a bucket of water for the meantime.
“Don’t do that,” the police said on Monday. “If one explodes, they all explode.” Extremely dangerous, but why? Explosives expert Ad van Riel can explain this. He has been working with ‘unexploded explosives’ for over 27 years. So he knows the Cobras inside and out.
“You think: I’ll throw it in the water so it can’t ignite.”
“You think: I throw it in the water, then it can’t ignite,” Ad begins his explanation. But appearances are deceiving. However, the danger does not have so much to do with wet cardboard, but with the herb it contains: flash powder. “It contains aluminum and potassium perchlorate. And when it comes into contact with water, it produces hydrogen.”
That is hypersensitive, he says. “For everything. Heat, friction, shock, friction, electricity… If you just turn on a light, everything ignites. That static electricity, even a little spark, is enough.”
“Similar to a small hand grenade.”
But what should you do? Very simple. “That everyone should keep their hands off it,” says the explosives expert succinctly. “That stuff is terribly sensitive. So report it to the police and make sure that the Explosives Reconnaissance Team Leader is involved. Then they can destroy it as quickly as possible.”
So don’t grab it, don’t lift it, don’t put it in water. “Such a small Cobra 6 is comparable to a hand grenade,” Ad repeats again. And it’s better not to pull it out of the trash.
