WW2 Bomb explodes in Germany - 1 dead 2 seriously wounded
92 replies, posted
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25594000[/url]
[QUOTE]A World War Two bomb has exploded at a construction site near a west German town, killing a man and injuring eight others, police say. The explosion occurred after a digger accidentally struck the device during excavation work in Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The machine's operator died on the spot. Two of those hurt were critically wounded, the dpa news agency reports. Police said the blast impact could be felt a kilometre (0.6miles) away. The incident took place around 13.30 local time (12.30 GMT) in an industrial park on the edge of town. The bomb blew up when it was disturbed by the digger, as the machine lifted up earth and debris. The blast damaged nearby office buildings and cars. Police say the explosion also smashed the windows of some local shops and homes.[/QUOTE]
Site where it happened:
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515015/9639727240-w900-h600/Bombe-in-Euskirchen-4-.jpg[/IMG]
Damage in surrounding area of the explosion:
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515017/7999727449-w900-h600/Bombenexplosion-Euskirchen.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515756/1429723803-w900-h600/Bombe-in-Euskirchen.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515753/6079723803-w900-h600/Bombe-in-Euskirchen.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515750/2749723803-w900-h600/Bombenexpolosion-in-Euskirchen.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515019/8669727658-w900-h600/Bombe-in-Euskirchen-6-.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.welt.de/img/koeln/origs123515840/0709723803-w900-h600/Bombe-in-Euskirchen.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72066000/jpg/_72066647_hi020492625.jpg[/IMG]
It's sad that after so long the war's still around us unknowingly.
[QUOTE=Tools;43402501]It's sad that after so long the war's still around us unknowingly.[/QUOTE]
Lands mines are still active all around the globe. It's a nice thought.
I remember reading somewhere that Europe is covered with untold amounts of unexploded ordinance from both world wars.
Now just imagine hundreds of these things falling from the sky onto your city
holy shit, i wonder what triggered this, and what kind of bomb can do that damage
[QUOTE=WoodenSpoon;43402592]Now just imagine hundreds of these things falling from the sky onto your city[/QUOTE]
Yeah, one single near-century old bomb buried in the ground caused all that damage, imagine if freshly minted bombs had been dropped on your building.
[QUOTE=Xmeagol;43402626]holy shit, i wonder what triggered this, and what kind of bomb can do that damage[/QUOTE]
The kind of bombs that do things like this
[IMG_THUMB]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Wesel_1945.jpg[/IMG_THUMB]
[QUOTE=Xmeagol;43402626]holy shit, i wonder what triggered this, and what kind of bomb can do that damage[/QUOTE]
Sad news incoming: This probably wasn't an extraordinarily heavy one. To give you an idea of how ridiculously huge the bombs used were, the RAF occasionally used something called the Grand Slam, which was a [B]10.000kg[/B] Earthquake bomb (i.e. it burrows into the ground on impact, then detonates underground).
Reminds me of the "Iron Harvest" where farmers in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and I think Germany still dig up unexploded ordnance from WWI. They just leave it in special roadside containers for collection services or something.
Imagine how much WWI-WWII ordnance is lost in places like France and Belgium, and shit.
Infact, imagine how many [I]corpses[/I] are lost, or destroyed tanks and guns and stuff. It's a truly horrifying thought. Same for naval boats and men lost at sea.
i remember an article a while back where they found all sorts of unexploded bombs in one of the rivers around germany while dredging and the foreman was like "meh you can't dig 2 feet down without finding some sort of bomb in germany"
I've been evacuated because of bombs found in building sites 3 times in my life now, this is pretty regular stuff.
When you build new buildings in Germany the law requires you to have the ground inspected by specialised agenciesbefore you do so, at least in the bigger towns. Euskirchen is not that big so maybe that's why they didn't do it.
Reminds me of the story of the farm that has a 50,000 lbs mine under its barn.
[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/belgium/1451468/Farmer-who-is-sitting-on-a-bomb.html[/url]
War... war never changes.
[QUOTE=Radley;43403215]War... war never changes.[/QUOTE]
deep meaningful reference
[QUOTE=ThaBoss;43402769]The kind of bombs that do things like this
[IMG_THUMB]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Wesel_1945.jpg[/IMG_THUMB][/QUOTE]
Wow, I had just finished reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and he described the city of Dresden after it was bombed as very similar to the moon. Now I see why.
[QUOTE=Drsalvador;43402989]Imagine how much WWI-WWII ordnance is lost in places like France and Belgium, and shit.
Infact, imagine how many [I]corpses[/I] are lost, or destroyed tanks and guns and stuff. It's a truly horrifying thought. Same for naval boats and men lost at sea.[/QUOTE]
All the world is a graveyard, be it for men or machines.
No offense but I think it shows how good the craftsmanship was back then if these bombs can still explode after 60-70 years of being abandoned.
I was in a field in northern France a few years ago and I found many old scrap things, some of them twisted metal and some of them mechanical stuff. It was apparently from the second world war.
[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;43403236]deep meaningful reference[/QUOTE]
Well if you think about it, yes.
Instruments of war will never take sides, they will always do what they we're designed to do.
A bomb blows up in a peaceful country and people get hurt. This however is no-ones fault since the bomb can not take sides.
It will lie dormant until destroyed, and it will do what it was built for until that day.
So in essence, War never changes.
[QUOTE=Radical Rebel;43403439]No offense but I think it shows how good the craftsmanship was back then if these bombs can still explode after 60-70 years of being abandoned.[/QUOTE]
You're forgetting the fact that it didn't detonate when it was dropped in the first place.
I heard it's even worse in Vietnam.
[QUOTE=Radley;43403533]Well if you think about it, yes.
Instruments of war will never take sides, they will always do what they we're designed to do.
A bomb blows up in a peaceful country and people get hurt. This however is no-ones fault since the bomb can not take sides.
It will lie dormant until destroyed, and it will do what it was built for until that day.
So in essence, War never changes.[/QUOTE]
i use video game quotes to express my thoughts on reality as well
This happend near the town i live in. Also the bomb defusing team said it probably wasnt a ww2 bomb, the bomb was brought there years ago
[QUOTE=Drsalvador;43402989]Imagine how much WWI-WWII ordnance is lost in places like France and Belgium, and shit.
Infact, imagine how many [I]corpses[/I] are lost, or destroyed tanks and guns and stuff. It's a truly horrifying thought. Same for naval boats and men lost at sea.[/QUOTE]
Having been to Belgium I'm pretty sure I heard from a local while I was there that the local farmers use special protective armour and metal devices to protect their tractors and other vehicles in the countryside in case they come across unexploded WW1 or 2 ordnance.
[QUOTE=ExplosiveCheese;43403628]I heard it's even worse in Vietnam.[/QUOTE]
Wasn't their focus more on napalm and chemical weapons? Their aftermath is millions of birth defects and cancer.
A couple years ago a WW2 bomb exploded on a beach where I live. We live quite a bit inland but it still woke my sister and parents, of course I slept through it and people that live on the seafront has their windows blown out. Good thing it happened at 3AM, our city also hosts an airshow annually. Would have been bad if it had gone off then...
[t]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/curly15/Daily%20Photo/8519lge.jpg[/t]
[QUOTE=Radley;43403533]Well if you think about it, yes.
Instruments of war will never take sides, they will always do what they we're designed to do.
A bomb blows up in a peaceful country and people get hurt. This however is no-ones fault since the bomb can not take sides.
It will lie dormant until destroyed, and it will do what it was built for until that day.
So in essence, War never changes.[/QUOTE]
2 deep for me
And the blame is obviously on the people who decided to carpet bomb civilians
[editline]3rd January 2014[/editline]
But yea, unexploded ordnance is a big problem, 2 years ago this thing caused the evacuation of 45000 people in Koblenz and 15 bombs average are uncovered daily.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Fundort_Luftmine_04_Koblenz_2011.jpg/800px-Fundort_Luftmine_04_Koblenz_2011.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;43404117]Wasn't their focus more on napalm and chemical weapons? Their aftermath is millions of birth defects and cancer.[/QUOTE]
It was part of it, but not entirely. They have problems with unexploded cluster bomblets, which are the size of oranges, and are powerful enough to blow up farming equipment like large tractors. They are also hard to spot due to their size, so it's not uncommon to hear about some farmer picking up a cluster bomblet thinking it was a piece of scrap metal.
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