Police said on Twitter that the dead man probably mistook the bomb for an old sewage pipe. (agent)
Prague:
A World War II bomb exploded in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava early Friday when a man tried to detonate it during excavation work, killing him and injuring another.
Police said on Twitter that the dead man probably mistook the bomb for an old sewage pipe.
“He used an angle grinder to cut the metal and the bomb exploded,” he said.
“We can confirm it was an aerial bombing,” police spokeswoman Eva Michalikova told AFP.
Local media said a 49-year-old man had died, while a 31-year-old suffered a minor head injury.
Police pulled 50 people out of their homes within 300 meters (yards) of the scene.
World War II ammunition and bombs are often found in the northeastern Czech Republic through which the Red Army advanced in the spring of 1945.
Last year alone, police evacuated hundreds of people on three occasions because of unexploded aerial bombs.
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