Man finds explosives buried near Route 1, police say

A man found explosives buried in a forest near Route 1, the Rowley Police Department said on Thursday.

A man using a metal detector discovered a box of TNT and some plastic explosives buried in a metal box near the Newbury town line, the department said in a statement.

The box containing the explosives was underground for an “undetermined” number of years, the statement said. Along with Rowley police, the Massachusetts State Police Bomb Squad, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI also responded to the scene, according to the statement.

The bomb squad safely destroyed the explosives, Rowley police said. Authorities said they do not plan to investigate the incident due to the age of the explosives and the length of time they were buried. 

Authorities did not evacuate homes because the box was in a “remote part of town,” far away from residences or businesses, police said.