Lucky escape for family after missile rips through Carrum Downs home
A Carrum Downs man heard a huge bang like a car crash. Next minute a piece of metal tubing smashes into his home, crashing through walls and wrecking his bathroom. So what caused the terrifying blast?
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A massive blast caused a missile to fly hundreds of metres over a Melbourne suburb before carving through a family home.
Arson and explosives squad detectives are looking for those behind the potentially fatal launch in which a 57cm piece of metal tubing - weighing about 7kg - was propelled over Carrum Downs.
It was fired from a reserve off Hillview Drive, maintaining a near vertical trajectory before crashing into the home of Kelvin Bitomsky an estimated 15 seconds after detonation.
Pictures graphically show the extent of the damage when the object returned to earth 150m away.
They depict how the metal rocketed through roof tiles, timber and the ceiling before coming to rest in a shower recess at 5pm on August 28.
Mr Bitomsky said he was sitting on the couch when he heard a huge bang resembling the impact of a car crash.
As he went to look outside, the object landed on his house with enormous force.
Debris flew as dust and insulation material rained down from the ceiling in the aftermath.
Mr Bitomsky said his son would normally have been in the shower at the time the house was hit.
“If he’d been in there, he’d have been killed,” he said.
Detective Sen-Constable Heath Lyon of the arson and explosives squad said anyone struck by the tubing would have been killed or seriously injured.
He said whatever propelled it was not commercially produced but very powerful.
“It’s pretty lucky (no one was killed). It has gone up a very long way,” he said.
Detectives have released CCTV images of two people they believe may be able to help with their inquiries into the incident.
The Herald Sun does not suggest that they were responsible for the detonation, only that they were in the area at the time and may have information that would assist police.
The man and woman were walking on Hillview Drive, on the reserve’s western side at around the time of the launch.
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He is described a caucasian, about 180cm tall, of medium build and wearing dark pants and a grey hoodie.
The woman is caucasian, of medium build with long hair and a ponytail.
She wore a dark hoodie, jeans and tanned boots.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or crimestoppersvic.com.au