Estonia: Over 1,200 historic explosives found in Saaremaa


During planned demining operations that began late last week on Saaremaa, bomb disposal experts have already discovered 1,260 explosive devices. The search efforts will continue through May 5.

The first days of large-scale demining operations that began on April 25 in Sõrve, Saaremaa, have yielded a high number of discoveries. In just three days, 1,260 explosive devices have been found. In addition, residents of Muhu and Saaremaa reported explosive items on 11 occasions, enabling bomb disposal experts to safely neutralize another 94 devices. Aivar Post, head of the West Estonia Bomb Squad and overall leader of the demining effort, explained that the focus on Sõrve is due to the large quantity of munitions abandoned there during the German retreat at the end of World War II.

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Source: ERR News


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