WWII bomb explodes in Germany 3 Killed

[birdie]

Couldn't agree more

Nothing funny about this...my thoughts are with the families....

[PlaceOfBayonets]

The burden of Genius is never being understood unless you break it down to rock level and I ain't got the patience.

Blow it off bro. I got it. It was sarcasm un related to the accident. But on topic, who should be responsible for any deaths due to allied bombs? Anyone?

W.

[Simon O.]

Sorry guys, I´m not able to get the deeper meaning of your humor here. Maybe a language question

However............ I´m a crim. detective in the town where this accident happened and was involved in the investigations.

The dead bomb squad members were very professional officers with hundreds of safe bomb disablement over the last 30 years. I had known 2 of them sligthly.

Dono what went wrong, but 3 had not even a chance to say "ops". Their bodies broke into hundreds of more or less big pieces and we had to pick them up in a 150 yard area around the center of the explosion. Everybody who ever had to do this, will agree, that this is not the perfect work to droll over.

2 other officer which were not that close, got several metal parts of the bomb into the body. Seriously wounded, but at present out of life danger. One part of the bomb metal smashed into a roof..........500! yeards away.

As you can see, for me all is real and not just a thread for someone unknown. For me there´s no place for sarcastic jokes or word games here; sorry!

These guys (and all bomb squads around the world) should get all respect; they gave their lifes for our safety. And they will do in future.

without a doubt this was a freak occurence. Thousands of munitions from both world wars are disposed of yearly so there was something highly unusual about the circumstances of this one.


for those ignorant of the effects of explosives, Channel4 in the UK has just run a series testing the effects of German bombs on buildings. I understand the bomb in the accident was a 500Kg one so in the clip you're looking at the effects of an SC500

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blZz5bo-GeQ

[Johnny R]

On of my occasional jobs in the Army was to work with the local German fire police to destroy old munitions, they would bring materials to firing ranges and we supplied the explosives to detonate to old bombs etc. All that stuff is still very dangerous. We had a kid in the town where we were stationed blow his hand off with a hand grenade fuze. It still amazes me people go out on weekends and dig this stuff out for a hobby.

[Dan M]

The bomb was 500 kilos which is 1100 pounds. A very large bomb which would take out a large area.

[Kriegrelic]

The Movie "Ten Seconds To Hell"

If any of you ever get the chance to watch there a movie called "Ten Seconds To Hell" made in 1959 that dealt with six German ex-soldiers who returned to Berlin after the war to form a bomb diposal unit. The story dealt with all of the psychological as well as the real dangers of the job. Pretty good movie as I recall with Jack Palance and Jeff Chander. Well worth watching!

[Huntzman]

Dr. I got your joke............. I think it was lost on the non-US members who don't realize how lawsuit happy this place happens to be.

To everyone else, the "good" Dr was not trying to make light of the deaths of the three officers. It is a tragedy beyond words, but an occupational hazard accepted by those who choose to do the work.

The problem with these bombs is that at this point in time they are becoming so unstable it is likely that they will have to decide whether or not to even try and defuse them anymore. Even moving them for evacuation to a detonation location is extremely dangerous.

So what do you do with a 1k + unstable bomb................

Gerd, is it true that they are considering whether to prosecute the team leader for negligence ? I heard a report about this and I can't even imagine they would do this, but bureaucrats do strange things....... that you can't even joke about.

Andrew

[Gerd W.]

Gerd, is it true that they are considering whether to prosecute the team leader for negligence ? I heard a report about this and I can't even imagine they would do this, but bureaucrats do strange things....... that you can't even joke about.

Andrew

No, that´s not correct Andrew. There´s an investigation to clear up the circumstances of this accident. That always will happen if someone came to death without a normal reason (illness for example). IF this investigation will come to the conclusion somebody made a mistake, an accusations will follow and after that maybe a official prosecution.

[Huntzman]

Gerd

Thanks for clearing that up. I couldn't believe that would be the case, but sometimes you never know........ Imagine the "News" getting a story wrong

How are the other officers doing ?

Andrew

[John T]

Statute of limitations ?

According to Wikopedia-

A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets forth the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated.

I think the good Reverend DR (where is Gator!!!!!) was referencing how persons are prosecuted for "crimes against humanity" etc many years after the fact, with this being viewed as controversial by some. In the US there is no Statute of limitations on murder, but are "war crimes", "crimes against humanity" within that scope and applied evenly when it can be argued that both sides had civilian losses such as Allied bombings and targeting of civilian populations of Germany, yes and such was done by Hitler too such as in London that could be considered war crimes yet only those on the losing side were ever prosecuted...the arguement can go on and on, anyway that is what the DR was alluding to. Mind you I have no opinion at the moment either as I see good arguments from any perspective.

Best,

John

[VtwinVince]

RIP and condolences to the families. And those posting disrespectful messages should STFU

[Schandfleck]

Still a lot of that stuff lying in the ground here in Europe, even WWI stuff! What is really creepy is that in the Baltic sea there are several ships on the bottom that where loaded with chemical weapons after the war and sunk. They are rusting and it is only a matter of time until that stuff is set free! Also don´t forget alot of these bombs found are in densely buildt areas. So blasting them is not really a option.
I feel sorry for the victims families having lost loved ones. But it is a duty that has to be done for the sake of many others.
I have a bit of an idea of these peoples work as I did simular work during my time in the airforce, although fortunately not that much and only for a limited time.
I know the Schießplatz in Göttingen and it has been known for years that bombs could be there, one just wonders why no one has looked into this area before in detail?
One can only hope although there is still decades of work for the EOD-teams that the cost in lifes in hopefully not too high.