European wildfires reveal a hidden danger: buried bombs and mines from WWI and WWII
- Wildfires burning across Europe this summer have exposed a deadly threat lurking beneath the landscape: unexploded bombs and mines from World War I and II threatening crews in France, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.
- "Climate change is now doing the work of unburying and reactivating what was previously stable," said Sarah Njeri, a scholar at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, citing reduced soil stability from drought and heat.
- In Liege, Gov. Herve Jamar reported "a few sporadic detonations" recently heard, while Belgium's Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Destruction Service responds to over 3,000 calls and disposes of 200 to 250 tons of munitions annually.
- Receding water levels have also revealed weapons, including a WWII-era bomb at Budapest's Margaret Bridge and naval mines in the Danube River that authorities in Slovakia buried for controlled demolition.
- "The legacy of war keeps creeping up," warned researcher Christina Greene, noting that in Ypres, farmers call annual soil tilling the "iron harvest" because it frequently turns up dangerous war remnants.
19 Articles
19 Articles
Svenska Dagbladet
Dagens Nyheter.As forest fires sweep across Europe, a potentially deadly threat to both residents and firefighters battling the flames is being exposed – rusty bombs and shells from both world wars.
Ottumwa Courier
Idaho State JournalWildfires expose — and detonate — buried bombs and mines from WWI and WWII
The wildfires burning across Europe this summer have exposed a potentially deadly threat lurking beneath the blackened landscape: rusty bombs and mines from World War I and II. The explosives now threaten crews fighting the fires. Some of the weapons…
European wildfires reveal hidden danger: Buried bombs, mines from world wars
ELSENBORN, Belgium — The wildfires burning across Europe this summer have exposed a potentially deadly threat lurking beneath the blackened landscape: rusty bombs and mines from World War I and II that threaten crews responding to the flames. Some of the weapons have exploded in the intense heat. Blasts have been reported in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, where a bomb-disposal team was dispatched to check a forest threatened by fl…
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