A team of sappers secured and removed five WWII-era anti-tank mines from the north-eastern town of Kolno (Podlaskie Voivodeship). For the duration of their mission, local residents living within 600 metres from the site had been evacuated, and the voivodeship road running through the town had been closed to traffic.
Two WWII-era mines were found on Monday during earthworks near the crossing of Konstytucji 3 Maja and Sobieskiego Streets. The unexploded ordnances were discovered by an excavator operator.
A team of sappers from Orzysz was dispatched to secure the mines on Tuesday. While searching the area, they came across another 3 mines of that kind.
The police said that more than 1,700 local residents had to be evacuated from their homes for the duration of the sapper mission. The assumed blast area covered not only town buildings, but also those in the neighbouring village of Stary Gromadzyn.
The residents had been informed about the evacuation on Monday, but 100 people decided to stay home on their own responsibility.
For the duration of the sapper operation, voivodeship road to the neighbouring town of Stawiski was closed to traffic.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: Tomasz Zieliński / tvnwarszawa.pl