World War II British bomb removed from Italian Adriatic town

Italian bomb experts have moved to the sea for safe detonation a 500-pound (225-kilo) British bomb from World War II, accidentally dug up in an Adriatic town.

Some 23,000 people in Fano were evacuated last night as a precaution while the bomb was transported to sea. The bomb was accidentally dug up during excavation work.

Italian army bomb experts say that the bomb will be detonated at sea after a 144-hour wait, the maximum time required to see if the device explodes on its own if its time-delayed trigger was accidentally activated during the excavation.

All the #WWII bombs turning up remind me that my students thought "Passport to Pimlico" totally unrealistic. I said that such things aren't uncommon, but they scoffed. "Italy bomb: World War Two device forces mass evacuation in Fano" https://t.co/zuA11llZ7x #History #Italy pic.twitter.com/86oV8vjGPv

— Eric G. E. Zuelow (@EZuelow) March 14, 2018

The army says the Italian navy took the bomb out to an area in the Adriatic outside navigation routes.

The accidental unearthing of Allied bombs is an occasional event in Italy.

— AP