A nearly 12,000-pound bomb from World War II that was discovered underwater near the Polish town of Swinoujscie, the largest unexploded bomb ever found in Poland, detonated Tuesday as naval service members attempted to defuse it.
About 750 people were evacuated, and no injuries have been reported, according to the BBC.
“The deflagration process turned into detonation,” said Lt. Cmdr. Grzegorz Lewandowski, spokesman for the Polish Navy’s 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla. “The object can be considered neutralised, it will not pose any more threat to the Szczecin-Swinoujscie shipping channel.”
The naval forces were using a remote-controlled device during an attempt at deflagration — a defusing technique that involves burning the explosive charge in the bomb without causing an explosion.
The bomb, a British “earthquake” bomb called a Tallboy, was dropped by the Royal Air Force in 1945 during an attack on the German cruiser Lutzow when the Polish city was part of Germany.
Shocks from the detonation could reportedly be felt across the city.
Swinoujscie is home to a liquefied natural gas terminal, but a spokesman for the town’s mayor told reporters that no infrastructure had been damaged during the detonation.
