Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
A nursery school had to be evacuated after a World War II hand grenade was found partially embedded in a tree.
The nursery school boss discovered the weapon thought to be from World War II (WWII) in a tree in the garden of the school and called for help.
An explosives expert from the police confirmed it was an unexploded hand grenade.
Army bomb disposal experts were called and cleared the nursery school and the surrounding area in the Hietzing district of the Austrian capital of Vienna was evacuated before clearing the object and securing the area. The hand grenade was taken away by the bomb experts.
The hand grenade had become partially embedded in the tree trunk and over time, the tree and the grenade had grown almost completely blended together.
Police spokesman Markus Dittrich confirmed: “The children were not in any danger at any time. The nursery school was evacuated whilst the bomb disposal experts removed the hand grenade.”
It is not known how long the grenade had been there or why it was not found earlier.
After an almost two-hour operation to remove the explosive the nursery school could be reopened.
The city of Vienna was bombed a total of 52 times during WWII.
During construction works in the city, particularly underground works, WWII ordinance has often been found, including bombs and grenades and often controlled explosions and evacuations need to be carried out more than 70 years after the war ended.
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