About 3,500 residents in Venice’s port area Marghera were evacuated in the early morning on Sunday as specialists had to defuse and then explode a World War II-era bomb that was found during repair work in the sewers. The authorities halted all traffic, including boats, buses, and trains, and prohibited flights at the city’s Marco Polo Airport for several hours.
As the commander of the army regiment that carried out the operation, Gianluca Dello Monacco, explained to the Italian broadcaster Rai24, the precautions were needed as there was a danger that the bomb could explode.
"It still carried a high risk of explosion", Dello Monacco said.
After the residents were evacuated, the military successfully stripped the fuses from the bomb, which was later carried taken on board a ship to a remote part of the Adriatic Sea and detonated, offering a spectacular show. The Commune of Venice shared a video of the explosion under the hashtag #BombaDay
