The Bomb Squad of the Icelandic Coast Guard was called out on Friday to destroy a magnetic mine from World War II found by the mouth of the river Selfljót in the southern Hérðassandur plains by Hérðasflói bay in east Iceland.
Untitled from Landhelgisgaeslan on Vimeo. A video from the scene, shot by the Coast Guard.
The mine was found the previous day and after reviewing pictures of it, the Bomb Squad confirmed the mine’s origin and determined it necessary to destroy it, as stated on the Coast Guard’s website.
Upon inspection by a bomb expert on the scene, the mine proved to contain active explosives. It was blown up with dynamite and plastic explosions. No other mines were spotted in the sand.
According to specialists, magnetic mines can be preserved well in sand if they are completely buried and resurface once the sand is washed away.
The mines can also be quick to disappear. Therefore it is important for experts to arrive to the scene as quickly as possible once a magnetic mine has been spotted.
For such discoveries it is best to call the emergency hotline 112, whose staff will put people through to the Coast Guard’s control room.
Click here to see pictures from the scene.
ESA
