This Article is From Dec 08, 2013

One-tonne WWII bomb removed from downtown Belgrade

One-tonne WWII bomb removed from downtown Belgrade

Emergency situations personnel work at the site where an unexploded bomb, of "great destruction power" dating back to World War II, was found.

Belgrade: An unexploded bomb of "great destruction power" dating back to Wold War II was found in downtown Belgrade and removed on Sunday for controlled detonation, the government said.

The one-tonne German bomb containing 620 kilogrammes (1370 pounds) of explosives was found during construction works in the capital's central area of Dorcol, forcing the authorities to evacuate some 20 inhabitants from a nearby building.

"The bomb had a great destruction power and if it had exploded it would have blown up the entire area," Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic told reporters.

The device was typical of the type dropped by Heinkel He 111 bombers during World War II, Dacic said.

The Nazi airforce heavily bombed Belgrade on April 6, 1941 at the beginning of a four-year occupation.

A truck under heavy security escort took the bomb to a military base in northwestern Serbia where it was to be destroyed in a controlled explosion, the Beta news agency reported.
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