WWII bomb 'neutralized' off Italy's Adriatic coast
March 14, 2018
Authorities in the eastern Italian town of Fano ordered some 23,000 people to evacuate after the discovery of a bomb from World War II. Officials said the device was neutralized at sea in a "highly risky operation."
Officials in the Adriatic town of Fano gave the all clear on Wednesday after a British-made bomb dating back to the Second World War was safely disposed of at sea.
Mayor Massimo Seri announced that the city was "out of danger," as he revoked evacuation orders and allowed local shops, public offices and the hospital to reopen. Schools remained closed, but the local train station, port and airport were back in service.
A statement from the town hall said army and navy experts had lifted the bomb and dropped it into the ocean in "a special and highly risky operation."
The 225-kilogram (500-pound) weapon was accidentally dug up Tuesday during excavation work on the beachfront, prompting the city to evacuate around 23,000 people from Fano's historic center.
Unexploded ordnance in Germany - a legacy of the Allied Forces
Over 50,000 people were evacuated from the northern city of Hanover in May 2017, so that bombs from World War II could be defused. Even 72 years after the war ended, unexploded bombs are still found across the country.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/U.S. Strategic Air Forces
What is unexploded ordnance?
Unexploded ordnance (UXO or sometimes also abbreviated to UO), unexploded bombs (UXBs), or explosive remnants of war (ERW) are explosive weapons such as bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines and cluster munitions that did not explode when they were deployed. Unexploded ordnance still poses the risk of detonation, even decades after they were used or discarded.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Grundmann
Why does Germany have a bomb problem?
Between 1940 and 1945, US and British forces dropped 2.7 million tons of bombs on Europe. Half of those bombs targeted Germany. Experts estimate that close to a quarter of a million bombs did not explode due to technical faults. Thousands of these bombs are still hidden underground, sometimes a few meters down and sometimes just below the surface.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
How big is the issue?
The industrial Ruhr area and the Lower Rhine region were heavily bombed, as were the cities of Dresden, Hamburg and Hanover. So this is where most of the unexploded ordnance is found. Bombs are usually unearthed during construction work or are discovered during the examination of historical aerial images. Experts say it could still take decades to clear all of the remaining unexploded ordnance.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
What happens when an unexploded bomb is found?
When confronted with the discovery of an UXO, UO or a UXB, bomb disposal experts have to decide whether to defuse it or to carry out a controlled explosion. Many have lost their lives on the job. German authorities are under pressure to remove unexploded ordnance from populated areas. Experts argue that the bombs are becoming more dangerous as time goes by due to material fatigue.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
How many bomb disposal experts have died?
Eleven bomb technicians have been killed in Germany since 2000, including three who died in a single explosion while trying to defuse a 1,000-pound bomb on the site of a popular flea market in Göttingen in 2010.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Zucchi
Which was the biggest evacuation?
A 1.8-ton bomb dropped by Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) was found in the city center of Augsburg on December 20, 2016. The find prompted a large-scale bomb disposal operation and consequently the evacuation of over 54,000 people on December 25. To date, this remains the biggest evacuation for the removal of World War II unexploded ordnance in Germany.
Image: Markus Siefer
What’s the latest?
Authorities conducted another big bomb disposal operation in May 2017, with 50,000 residents in the northwestern city of Hanover forced to evacuate their homes. Thirteen unexploded ordnances from the 1940s were removed. Hanover was a frequent target of Allied bombing in the latter years of the war. On October 9, 1943, some 261,000 bombs were dropped on the city.
Image: Getty Images/A. Koerner
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According to the SkyTG24 news channel, the explosive had a delayed fuse that was accidentally set off during the building works, meaning that it could have exploded within 144 hours of its discovery.
Following the collapse of Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime in 1943, Italy was invaded and became the scene of fighting between advancing Allied forced and retreating Nazi troops. Even decades later, unexploded bombs are still discovered from time to time, usually on building sites and properties undergoing redevelopment.
