Italian forces safely unexploded WWII bombs found in the drought-stricken Po River amid historic heatwaves in Europe. exploded on
His 1,000-pound bomb, made in the United States, was found by fishermen on July 25 in a dried-up river near the northern village of Borgo Virgilio, near the city of Mantua.
Colonel Marco Nasi said a bomb weighing 530 pounds had been found. Explosives were found on the river bank as the water level dropped.
About 3,000 people in the nearby towns of Borgoforte and Mottegiana were evacuated for demolition work on Sunday, the military said.
Airspace in the area was closed, halting traffic on nearby railroads and highways, as well as navigation along the waterway.
Virgilio Mayor Francesco Aporti added that operations would have been suspended if people refused to go.
Bomb disposal technicians removed the fuse from the explosive device. A police escorted bomb squad loaded the bomb onto a truck and transported it to an abandoned quarry in Medor City, about 30 miles away, where it was dug into a 19-foot-deep hole. The Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reported that it had been blown up for that purpose and then blown up.
The entire operation was from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Local time including the time it took to secure, remove from the river and destroy the bomb
Italy declared a state of emergency last month in the region surrounding the Po River, the country's longest river.
About three minutes of Italy's agricultural production. 1 of the world, and the region's extreme heat has caused the worst drought in 70 years.
Postwired
