Fiona Govan
POLICE in Spain revealed how they discovered an unexploded bomb more than 80 years after it was dropped by fascist bombers during the Spanish Civil War thanks to a recollection by an elderly resident.
Work was halted on a building in the the town of Maella near Zaragoza after a passing comment by elderly resident who recalled a bomb falling on the site during the conflict.
The man, now in his 90s, recalled how when he six years old a bomb fell in the yard of the property during an air raid by Italian bombers but failed to explode.
When the yard was covered in concrete it was forgotten about, but the man warned the current owner that digging it up might cause problems.
“A local resident alerted the owner of the premises that he had to be careful when carrying out works because during the civil war, when this person was six, the town was bombarded and one of the bombs did not explode. Later concrete was poured on the ground and the artefact was hidden from view,” the Guardia Civil explained in a statement released on Sunday.
The specialist bomb disposal unit TEDAX was called in and used a metal detector to find the 50kg bomb exactly where the neighbour had said it was.
The bomb was identified as a “Torpedín Legionaria” one of the explosives typically dropped by the Italian air force, which sided with the Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco during the 1936-1939 war.
It was taken to an area outside of the town and blown up by officers in a controlled explosion.
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