RESIDENTS of the German town of Limberg woke up to a startling sight recently: a crater in a field as large as a house. The explosion was apparently caused by a leftover bomb from World War II.

Unexploded bombs are a problem in Germany and other European countries, as long-buried weapons periodically surface or spontaneously explode.

The incident took place in the central German town of Ahlbach, just north of Frankfurt. Town residents reported hearing and feeling a large explosion in the early morning hours of Sunday, though no one appears to have actually seen it. An inspection the next day revealed a crater 33-feet (10-meter) wide and 14-feet deep in the middle of a barley field. Officials blamed a decomposing bomb detonator for the explosion.

According to the BBC, explosive ordnance demolition teams concluded the explosive device was a 250-kilogram aerial bomb dropped by the Allies during World War II. The bomb was likely a M43, AN-M43, or AN-M64 general purpose bomb. General purpose bombs at terminal velocity will penetrate three-four building stories before detonating, so it’s not surprising this bomb buried itself so well.

Germany operated several facilities in the area important to the war effort, including Limburg Field and an important railroad junction and marshaling yard. Bombs dropped during the war often missed by miles. Falling at a high rate of speed, Sunday’s bomb buried itself in the soft soil and remained undetected for decades.

Seventy-five years after the end of World War II, unexploded bombs are still a chronic problem not only in postwar Germany but across Europe as a whole.

(SD-Agencies)