There are many tragedies of war, and while war-affected countries and people suffer for generations to come – there are so many other after-effects of war that remain lingering.
Recently, a live bomb from World War II just exploded in Poland while the experts were trying to disarm it.
One of the problems is that even decades after a war is over, there are millions spent on dismantling old bombs that weren’t used. The 75-year old gigantic bomb named “Tallboy” was on the coast of Poland, and as the navy divers tried to take it underwater – it triggered a massive bomb blast.
There was a tall pillar of water created by the explosion, but there were no injuries or deaths that we know of.
Many of these bombs used an obsolete explosive named Torpex – which explodes only when detonated with an explosive charge or a blasting cap. When it is not detonated in that way, it just burns up. This is why the bomb had not exploded yet, and blew up only when the engineers tried to mess with it.
The “Tallboy” bomb was non-nuclear, and so the engineers try to defuse it underwater by burning up the explosives inside – but it just exploded.
The bomb was 21 feet long and 3 feet, 8 inches wide. The 12,000-pound bomb included 5,100 pounds of Torpex D1 explosive.
Dropped from 20,000 feet, this bomb could create a crater that was 80 feet deep crater, 100 feet wide. The bomb had a high terminal velocity much faster than the speed of sound), and at these speeds, it could go through 16 feet of concrete.
Thousands of bombs from previous wars remain active. Countries spent billions of taxpayers’ money on making these bombs and then millions are being spent now on dismantling these bombs.
There are still bombs from both world wars found in Europe, most of them undetonated and a threat to life in general.
Featured Image Courtesy: