Old mine detonated in Westerschelde channel
A World War II mine was detonated in the main channel of the Westerschelde in Zeeland on Friday, the defence ministry told news agency Novum.
The mine was dragged up in the nets of a fishing boat on Thursday evening. The fishermen threw it back into the sea before reporting it. They were lucky the mine did not explode, news agency Novum reports.
The mine, a type CG, not only has a magnetic and acoustic detonator but can also explode when it is moved.
‘It has several booby-traps,’ a naval spokesman told Novum. ‘You cannot defuse it in a safe manner.’
Naval divers used TNT to explode the bomb.
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