Ancient ruins of Pompeii ‘hiding 10 unexploded WW2 bombs’ dropped during Allied invasion of Italy
THE ANCIENT ruins of Pompeii are littered with at least as 10 unexploded bombs, archaeologists have warned.
The explosives were dropped during nine Allied bombing runs on August 24, 1943, as part of preparations for the invasion of Italy.
During World War 2, the Allies dropped as many as 165 bombs on the legendary archaeological site.
Now teams of military archaeologists are excavating Pompeii to check for bombs buried below the surface.
They've checked 44 acres of the site so far, uncovering 96 bombs that had either exploded or been deactivated.
But there are 22 acres of the site still waiting to be searched, as revealed by Italian newspaper .
"In 1986, I came across unexploded bombs in Pompeii during some excavations," said archaeologist Antonoio De Simone.
"We were there with our chisels and shovels, slowly lifting a handful of earth at a time, and suddenly we found the bombs under our feet.
"There were two of them. One had already exploded and was reduced to fragments.
"The other, unfortunately, had not. It was perfectly intact."
Based on historical bombing records, experts expect to uncover at least 10 unexploded bombs.
Officials have reassured worried tourists by confirming that there is zero risk of explosions.
Pompeii is the site of an ancient Roman city that was famously destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79AD.
The deadly catastrophe wiped out the city's inhabitants, and buried it beneath hot volcanic ash.
It wasn't rediscovered for another 1,500 years, and is still being excavated today.
The destruction of Pompeii – what happened in 79 AD?
- Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy.
- It was destroyed, along with the Roman town of Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, and buried under volcanic ash in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
- The violent explosion killed the city's inhabitants, with the site lost for around 1,500 years until its initial redsicovery in 1599 and broader redesicovery almost 150 years after that.
- The thermal energy released from Vesuvius was said to be a hundred thousand times that of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
- The remains beneath the city have been preserved for more than a millenium due to the lack of air and moisture in the ground.
- During excavations, plaster was injected into the voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies, allowing scientists to recreate their exact poses at the time of their deaths.
- Mount Vesuvius is arguably the most dangerous volcano on earth.
- It had been inactive for almost a century before roaring back into life and destroying Pompeii.
- Since then, it has exploded around three dozen more times - most recently in 1944 - and stands in close proximity to three million people.
- Although its current status is dormant, Vesuvius is an "extremely active" and unpredictable volcano, according to experts.
- To this day, scientists are finding cultural, architectural and human remains on the banks of Mount Vesuvius.
- Excavations at thermal baths in Pompeii's ruins in February revealed the skeleton of a crouching child who perished in the 79 AD eruption.
But Pompeii also earned a renewed place in the history books during World War 2.
Allied bombers attacked Pompeii as part of Operation Avalanche, the code-name for a mission to invade Italy near the port of Salerno.
Prior to the invasion, bombers severed important transit locations, including roads, railways and bridges.
But the Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, leaving only German troops to defend the area when the Allies landed.
Despite the buried bombs, Pompeii remains an attractive tourist destination, drawing in an estimated 2.5million visitors each year.
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Would this put you off visiting Pompeii, or make you more likely to go? Let us know in the comments!
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