MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: Woman searching a skip in Montevideo finds military rocket; origin under investigation

Specialists from the Army’s Explosives Brigade later examined the device and identified it as military ammunition, model MK3, 2.25-inch caliber

A woman who described herself as a waste picker found a military rocket while searching a skip in Montevideo’s Pocitos neighborhood and contacted police, triggering a security operation at her home in Nuevo París, northern Montevideo, according to Montevideo police.

Local reports citing the police statement said she collected several metal objects in Pocitos and took them home to sort. Once there, she noticed one item “had characteristics similar to a metal rocket” and alerted authorities.

Police secured the area and firefighters carried out an initial inspection, confirming it was a real rocket but saying they could not immediately determine whether it was active or carried a functional charge.

Specialists from the Army’s Explosives Brigade later examined the device and identified it as military ammunition, model MK3, 2.25-inch caliber. The item was seized and placed under military technical custody for handling and final disposal.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing to determine the device’s origin and how it ended up among discarded materials in a residential area of the Uruguayan capital.