Over the weekend hikers walking on the beach on Starmýrartangi cape by Álftafjörður bay found a WWII naval mine. The local news site visir.is reports that the mine was quickly identified as probably being of British origin, and believed to contain explosives equivalent to 225 kg (500 pounds) of TNT.
The Icelandic Coast Guard sent its bomb disposal unit to the scene on Sunday to secure the mine and explode it. As the accompanying photographs and video show, the mine still packed some punch, despite being at least 70 years old.
Sgurður Ásgrímsson, the head of bomb disposal at the Icelandic Coast Guard told visir.is that naval mines from the Second World War are periodically found in the sand beach by Starmýrartangi cape. The mines are believed to have washed ashore in during the war and shortly after the war and buried in the sand. The mine which was exploded on Sunday probably washed ashore around 1950, Sigurður told visir.is.
The sand protects the mines from the elements, keeping rust at bay. During storms the mines are then exposed. Sigurður told visir.is that some years see no mines while other years produce a bumper crop of unexploded mines. “Once, several years ago, I went to this same area to dispose of five mines at the same time.”
Over the weekend hikers walking on the beach on Starmýrartangi cape by Álftafjörður bay found a WWII naval mine. The local news site visir.is reports that the mine was quickly identified as probably being of British origin, and believed to contain explosives equivalent to 225 kg (500 pounds) of TNT.
The Icelandic Coast Guard sent its bomb disposal unit to the scene on Sunday to secure the mine and explode it. As the accompanying photographs and video show, the mine still packed some punch, despite being at least 70 years old.
Sgurður Ásgrímsson, the head of bomb disposal at the Icelandic Coast Guard told visir.is that naval mines from the Second World War are periodically found in the sand beach by Starmýrartangi cape. The mines are believed to have washed ashore in during the war and shortly after the war and buried in the sand. The mine which was exploded on Sunday probably washed ashore around 1950, Sigurður told visir.is.
The sand protects the mines from the elements, keeping rust at bay. During storms the mines are then exposed. Sigurður told visir.is that some years see no mines while other years produce a bumper crop of unexploded mines. “Once, several years ago, I went to this same area to dispose of five mines at the same time.”
