Granny’s neighbourly act leads to Spanish bomb scare

A NORTH CLARE-based grandmother was at the centre of a bomb scare in the Alicante area of Spain, while holidaying there recently.

A kindly act for a neighbour nearly blew up in the face of grandmother-of-two Anne O’Connell, formerly of Adare, County, Limerick but now living in Moy.
Anne, who was on vacation in the seaside village of Guardamar del Segura, took pity on Russian neighbours she saw trying to carry heavy messages home from the local supermarket. So she got them a spare shopping trolley she had in her garage. The trouble was that her neighbours were out when she called and she left the trolley on their terrace.
When the Russians got home, they saw the trolley, thought it was a bomb and called the police. The Guardia Civil dashed to the scene with a bomb disposal team. They approached the ‘bomb’ with extreme caution and prepared to evacuate the neighbourhood in order to carry out a controlled explosion. However, they  discovered the trolley was empty and eventually signalled the all-clear.
Anne later made a statement to the police in which she explained that she was merely being neighbourly. “I had no idea that anybody might think my shopping trolley was a bomb,” she said.  “I was out when the Guardia Civil arrived; otherwise I would have been able to diffuse the whole crisis myself,” she added.
The Russian neighbours, who come from Moscow, explained later that it would be unheard of for someone in Russia to leave a package outside a person’s door without leaving a note or some explanation.
“My first priority was for my wife and baby,” said Nikki, a lawyer from Moscow. “There is so much terrorism in Russia that one can never be too careful,” he added.
Said Anne, “It shows you the difference between the Irish and Russian cultures. If anybody in Moy or Adare found a shopping trolley outside their door they might scratch their heads wondering where it came from. But the last thing they would think would be that it was a bomb.”
She said the police took away the trolley when leaving but she was later able to collect it herself.  “I am going to be more careful in future when I do a good deed for someone,” Anne concluded.