Massachusetts police are seeking the renters of a home that was for sale after it was discovered that the house was seemingly rigged to explode if someone flipped a particular light switch.
The homeowner, his lawyer and an electrician were preparing the home in Milton for sale after the renters moved out when they noticed the wiring.
Police explosives specialists sealed off the street on Tuesday as they disarmed the device in an operation that took several hours.
The bomb was a gallon plastic container full of accelerant, hidden behind a recently plastered section of wall in the closet of an upstairs bedroom and wired throughout the house.
Police Chief Richard Wells told reporters on Tuesday: “By what we believe was the intent of the design of this device, it was definitely intended to do some significant destruction.”
The drains of the house, on Craig Street, were also found to have been blocked with cement.
Lindel Williams, who owns the property, told the Boston Globe: “I just can’t believe someone would really do this.”
Investigators told reporters a husband, wife and daughter who had been renting the home since last June moved out at the weekend.
Neighbours said the home had previously been vandalised with red paint in between renters.
Agencies/Canadajournal