By CASEY NEILL
TWO suspected bombs put Athol Road Primary in lockdown on Monday afternoon.
The Springvale South school was evacuated about 1.40pm on 27 May after teachers located two devices made from plastic bottles at the rear of the school.
They appeared to be home-made explosive devices and one was burnt.
Greater Dandenong CIU cordoned off the area and called in Bomb Squad members, who examined the devices and about 5.45pm deemed them safe. They’ve been seized and sent for testing.
Detective Sergeant Dean Hayes told the Star police did not yet know when the bombs were placed in the schoolyard or what they were made from.
Police have cautioned a 10-year-old boy over the incident, and Det Sgt Hayes warned others about the dangers of toying with explosives.
“They could lose limbs, lose their life or hurt somebody else badly,” he said.
Athol Road Primary School principal Ruby Toombs said the scare put the school’s emergency evacuation plan to the test and it passed with flying colours.
“Staff and students are to be congratulated on the way they handled themselves during the evacuation,” she said.
“There was an impromptu assembly on the front oval, students had some extra playtime and we finished the school day with a karate demonstration at 3pm after which students were dismissed in an orderly manner.”
One parent told the Star she didn’t know what had happened when she arrived to pick up her children.
“I couldn’t get in the side gate as there was police tape,” she said.
“Us parents then walked around to the front of the school to be met by teachers and a police car blocking the driveway.
“All the children were assembled on the front oval and were being dismissed by the teachers as their parents arrived.”
In a separate incident, police discovered a Molotov cocktail and ingredients to produce more near the Dandenong Showgrounds on Saturday.
They intercepted a man and a woman in a car in Bennet Street, near Greaves Reserve, about 4.30am on 25 May.
Close to the car, police found a Molotov cocktail and supplies to make more of the explosive devices.
They arrested and charged a 23-year-old man from Mount Waverley, who’s been remanded, and a 20-year-old woman from Mount Waverley, who was released on bail.
