Some 2,000 evacuated for removal of 3 WWII bombs in Poland

WARSAW, Poland – More than 2,000 people were evacuated Monday while Polish navy experts removed three World War II bombs from the Baltic Sea bed at the vacation resort of Kolobrzeg, officials said.

The spokesman for the local navy unit, Jacek Kwiatkowski, said the bombs were hoisted out of the sea and onto a special truck and were taken to a test range for controlled detonation. Each bomb weighed some 300 kilograms (660 pounds) and their impact radius was estimated at some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles.) Two other metal objects found at the site turned out to be parts of an old anchor and some scrap metal.

Dariusz Trzeciak, a Kolobrzeg city official, said some 2,000 residents and 200 vacationers were evacuated in their own cars or in buses. They were later allowed to return.

Kolobrzeg was part of Germany during the war and was the site of fierce fighting in the conflict’s last phase.