Smoke was seen rising from the ground in the West Flemish village of Zonnebeke on Saturday. The smoke was caused by a First World War phosphorous bomb that had fractures underground. An inspection of the area discovered that several bombs were under the field.
First World War phosphorous shell causes smoke to billow out of the ground in West Flemish village
Published:
Locals in the West Flemish village of Zonnebeke could hardly believe their eyes on Saturday afternoon when they saw smoke billowing up from a field next to the Ijzerweg.
The field was not on fire though and the smoke was coming from a phosphorous shell that had been lying under the field for well over 100 years. The bomb disposal service DOVO was called and during the operation to defuse the shell a further 4 bombs were found under the field. One of these contained toxic substances.
Two years ago DOVO was called out to a similar incident in Zonnebeke. Then too the smoke came from a bomb from World War I.