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Dried-up Italian River Po reveals unexploded WWII bomb
As Italy is witnessing its worst drought for 70 years, an unexploded 450kg World War Two bomb submerged in River Po has been found by fishermen on the banks of the drained river.
The Po is Italy's longest river, flowing from the south-western Alps down to the Adriatic Sea - but annual satellite images from this year show expanding patches of dried-up riverbed as a result of extreme drought.
Large sections of the 650km (400 mile) river have dried up.
"The bomb was found by fishermen on the bank of the Po river," army official Colonel Marco Nasi told Reuters news agency.
The unexploded device, which Italian military officials said contained 240kg (530lb) of explosive, was discovered near the Lombardy village of Borgo Virgilio in July.
The Italian army carried out a controlled explosion of a World War Two bomb discovered in the country's longest river, the Po, which has dried up in a summer drought https://t.co/6P5xQeSXlV pic.twitter.com/WSXGLOc2Xs
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 7, 2022
Some 3,000 nearby residents were reportedly evacuated so that bomb disposal experts could safely carry out a controlled explosion on Sunday (August 7).
Local mayor Francesco Apori said: "At first, some of the inhabitants said they would not move, but in the last few days we think we have persuaded everyone."
The area's airspace was also shut down for a brief time, as well as river traffic on the waterway itself.
Italian cities of Verona and Pisa limit water usage amid drought
Unusually hot weather and low rainfall levels have compounded northern Italy's water shortages and heightened fears about the effects of climate change.
Italian officials declared a state of emergency last month for areas surrounding the Po, which irrigates around one-third of the country's agricultural production.
Its current has grown so weak due to heat and lack of rainfall in recent months that farmers in the Po Valley say salty seawater is now seeping into the river, destroying crops.
levantnews-BBC
