An attempt to blow up a building at the Vatukoula gold mine in Fiji has been foiled even though the fuse had been lit.
The Fiji Sun reports that an alert security guard found the Vatukoula Mine Workers Credit Union building wired with two sticks of dynamite in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The fuse was attached to a slow burning mosquito coil which would have detonated the dynamite.
The security guard alerted other guards who rushed to put out the mosquito coil.
Police are now trying to determine the people and the motives behind the attempted bombing which has left the Vatukoula mining community in shock.
Last month 223 power gels were stolen from the mine through a cut perimeter fence but they were recovered by police, hidden close to a nearby tree.
The secretary of the Fiji Mine Workers' Union, Satish Chand, says frequent thefts of explosives at the mine means that security needs to be further tightened.
