Italian soldiers blow up live WW2 bomb exposed by dried-up river Po
The Italian army has blown up a Second World War-era bomb found in the river Po.
Extreme drought in the country has led to the Italian river running low which exposed the unexploded bomb.
Footage has shown the crews carefully carrying out the explosion of the US-manufactured bomb on Sunday after 3,000 locals were evacuated.
The area's airspace was also briefly shut down, as well as river traffic on the waterway.
Fishermen discovered the 1,000lb device on the bank of the river in the small northern town of Borgo Virgilio, near Mantua, on 25 July.
The detonation activity took place in two stages. In the first stage, army bombers removed the fuse from the device, so that it could be secured and then transported it to a quarry where it was then blown up.
Last month, Italy declared a state of emergency for areas surrounding the Po river.
The river is the country's longest and accounts for around a third of Italy's agricultural production and is suffering its worst drought in 70 years.
Cover image: Italian army detonate the WWII bomb that emerged from a dried-up river Po in a quarry (Picture: Reuters).
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