Construction works in Krakow, Poland, were halted as workers dug up a pile of unexploded wartime ordnance buried beneath its surface.
The finding was made on Wednesday, 6 May, as part of regular earthworks associated with an ongoing development project. Excavation workers observed objects resembling artillery shells and reported them to emergency services as soon as possible.
The police, firefighters, and a military bomb disposal unit (Sappers) rushed to the area. Specialists later determined that the site contained unexploded ordnance believed to have originated in World War II.
During the operation, crews found over 200 objects of harmful origin, making it one of the largest bomb disposal operations in Krakow in recent years. The situation was complicated when responders also saw a chemical substance they had yet to identify next to the explosives.
Chemical rescue teams — as well as firefighters — conducted tests to see whether the liquid was toxic or combustible. Subsequently, authorities verified the substance was non-hazardous, thus freeing Sappers up to concentrate on securing and lifting the unexploded ordnance. A security perimeter was established around the construction site, and police patrolled around the clock throughout the operation.
Each explosive device had to be carefully documented, secured, and transported separately to reduce the risk of explosions during transport. The location was once thought to have served as a wartime ammunition storage site because of the abnormal number of explosives found there. It concluded on Saturday after the sappers removed the last of those devices from the ground.
The explosives were loaded into special military vehicles and escorted to a training ground, where they will will be neutralised safely. After the operation concluded, the project site was returned to the investor so construction could continue.
While the discovery delayed the project in the short term, public safety remained the overriding priority throughout the operation, authorities said. The incident even underscored the lingering hazards posed by unexploded wartime munitions left buried across portions of Poland decades after World War II.
Header Image Credit : Krakow Municipal Police Headquarters
Sources : M jak Małopolska