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A piece of scrap iron, a dumped bicycle, but also weapons or war equipment. Magnetic fishermen bring out the most special objects from canals, canals and rivers. Last week, a magnet fisherman in Assen removed a safe from a canal for the fourth time in a month.
Armed with a very strong magnet on a rope, they stroll along quays and banks. Young men in particular go out regularly. With a big swing, the magnet is hurled into a canal or river and then slowly drawn in. All in the hope that a treasure will emerge.
Full safe Magnet fishing is rapidly gaining popularity. And that is not surprising at all when you hear what is surfacing. Like last week in Assen. Magnetic fisherman Joachim Scheffer from Leek took a safe from the water on the Groene Dijk Zuidzijde with a strong magnet on a rope. That safe turned out to contain a considerable wealth of jewelery, among other things. It was the fourth safe he recovered in a month. The bag he retrieved that same afternoon was full of stolen items.
Yet there is also a certain image attached to the hobby and there are risks. “You must always keep an eye for your own safety while magnetfishing,” said police spokesman Anne Kok. “Sometimes it’s quite dangerous what people get out of the water, like explosives. So don’t trust it, keep your distance and warn us.”
Miel Dekien and Viktor Huyghe started it a few years ago in their hometown Adinkerke. “We bought a small magnet, threw it into the water and immediately got a bicycle upstairs. We then thought: hmm, there could be more in the canal. ” It was not the first time the two had fished up explosives. “We have already found airplane bombs and grenades. We therefore thought that we could estimate the danger of this, but when DOVO arrived on the spot, we were shocked. They couldn’t really laugh about it either. We soon realized that we should not have done that. We really didn’t know it’s that dangerous. Imagine that a child of 12 years old buys a large magnet and goes fishing in the Maria Hendrikapark… it is good that it is now closed and there is a ban ”, says Dekien. |
