'Explosives' detonated at Qld home

The police bomb squad has detonated an explosive device found at a Sunshine Coast home which has kept four streets in lockdown.

A police bomb squad officer retrieves a robot

Potential explosives and ammunition have been found in a car outside a Sunshine Coast home. (AAP)

A homemade explosive device has been detonated at the Sunshine Coast home of a man arrested for threatening a woman with a gun.

The police bomb squad blew up the gelignite stick in the quiet suburb of Peregian Beach early on Wednesday afternoon following a dramatic overnight man-hunt which has kept several streets in lockdown.

Police say a 26-year-old man threatened a woman with a long-arm rifle at Coolum on Tuesday night before fleeing in a 4WD.

They went to his house at Gweneth Street at Peregian Beach, 12km away, finding the car but no trace of him.

After evacuating three people, a search of the property uncovered ammunition and suspected explosives in the 4WD.

Inspector Jon Lewis described the device as "two tubes tied together with a metal base".

"(It was) fashioned into what people would commonly call a stick of explosives or gelignite stick. In terms of exact makeup, it's unknown at this stage," he told reporters.

"There's no evidence to suggest what its intended purpose was."

Residents say they were woken in the middle of night by the noise of police cars and screaming officers searching for the man.

"There was a lot of commotion," Jenny Lowe told the Sunshine Coast Daily.

"We heard a policeman with a megaphone calling out.

"They said: 'this is the police, armed police are in the garden, please make yourself known to police'."

The man, later found at the Coolum home at 9.20am on Wednesday was arrested and is being interviewed.

The police bomb squad detonated the device safely at the Gweneth Street house around 12.30pm.

An exclusion zone remains in place in nearby streets, with residents in surrounding Lake Vista Drive, Lakeshort Place, Mary Ann Drive and Emu Mountain Road advised to stay indoors.

Motorists are also being asked to avoid the area.

* National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world