Second World War bomb explodes in Poland

The greatest World War Two bomb ever found in Poland detonated submerged on Tuesday as naval force jumpers attempted to defuse it.

The bomb was dropped in the channel by Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) reportedly in a bid to sink the Nazi warship Lützow at the end of the Second World War.

It was discovered past year embedded at a depth of 12 metres (39 feet) with just its nose sticking out during dredging close to the port city of Swinoujscie in northwest Poland.

Polish Navy 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla spokesman lieutenant commander Grzegorz Lewandowski said: "The deflagration process turned into detonation".

"Some residents told AFP they've refused to depart, stating the" main threat" was the probability of catching COVID-19 at a sports hall where taxpayers are being given refuge. "Before, we just had to stay indoors".

Undoubtedly, this is going to be a very delicate job. Our bomb disposal divers will scrape around the bomb; which is embedded in the bottom of the channel at a depth of 12 meters. "Only its nose is sticking out". Initially, the Polish Navy dismissed the idea of making a controlled activation of the bomb, fearing that a neighboring bridge, which is about 500 meters from the site, would be destroyed during the explosion.

More than 700 people were evacuated from the area for the operation, which aimed to "neutralize" the explosive remotely using a technique called deflagration - which involves heating the bomb until it burns rather than detonating it. It weighed almost 5,400 kg, including 2,400 kg of explosive.

Tallboys were created to explode underground next to a target, triggering shock waves that would cause destruction.

The one in Swinoujscie was probably used in April 1945 on the Nazi German battleship Luetzow.