BANG TO RIGHTS - Tourist Caught With Live WWII Grenade In Her Luggage

A tourist who was caught with a live World War II era grenade at an Italian airport told horrified customs officers she had picked it up as a "souvenir".

Astonished officials discovered the deadly device as they searched her luggage at Palermo's Falcone Borsellino Airport in Sicily at a security checkpoint.

Police triggered a full anti-terror alert, partially evacuating the airport, before the grenade could be secured by explosives experts and made safe.

Local media reports on 24th April said the 23-year-old French national told police she had found the grenade on San Vito Lo Capo beach and decided to take it home as a memento.

Experts say the explosive device was still live and could have gone off at any time, as corrosion caused by salty sea water had made it unstable.

It is unclear what criminal charges the tourist may now face.

Sicily was the scene of some of the hardest fighting in World War II when Allied troops mounted Operation Husky in 1943 as a key part of the invasion of Italy.

(Joseph Golder/newsX)