Hundreds of people have been evacuated as experts on Monday pulled unexploded World War II bombs out of a seabed in north-western Poland.

More than a dozen bomb disposal experts were working to lift several devices from the bottom of the Baltic Sea near a housing estate in the north-western resort town of Kołobrzeg, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

The operation followed the discovery of three massive bombs not far from the shore at a depth of one-and-a-half metres, IAR reported.

Photo: PAP/8th Coastal Defence Flotilla

The bombs were expected to be detonated at a military exercise site in the town of Drawsko Pomorskie, some 90 km away, the news agency said.

Several hundred policemen, firefighters, foresters and other officials were taking part in the effort, in addition to bomb disposal experts and soldiers, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.

Beaches, roads and bicycle paths have been closed within a radius of 2.5 km from the site, the news agency said.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, PAP