An unexploded World War Two bomb submerged in an Italian river has been revealed due to extreme drought.
The bomb weighing 450kg (1,000lb) was found by fishermen on the banks of the depleted River Po.
Large sections of the 650km (400 miles) river have dried up in Italy’s worst drought for 70 years.
Low rainfall levels and unusually hot weather and have compounded northern Italy’s water shortages and heightened fears about the effects of climate change.
“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.
IMAGE SOURCE, ITALIAN ARMYSome 3,000 nearby residents were reportedly evacuated so that bomb disposal experts could safely carry out a controlled explosion on Sunday.
“At first, some of the inhabitants said they would not move, but in the last few days we think we have persuaded everyone,” local mayor Francesco Apori said.
Along with river traffic on the channel itself, the area’s airspace was briefly closed.
The Po is the longest river in Italy, flowing from the south-western Alps to the Adriatic Sea. However, this year’s annual satellite photographs show growing portions of the dried-up riverbed due to the severe drought.
Last month, Italian authorities issued an emergency declaration for the Po’s environs, which irrigates around one-third of the nation’s agricultural output.
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.