BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: FRENCH UN BOMB DISPOSAL TEAM REMOVE UNEXPLODED BOMB FROM UNDERNEATH HOME OF ELDERLY COUPLE

Record ID: 358442

  • Title: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: FRENCH UN BOMB DISPOSAL TEAM REMOVE UNEXPLODED BOMB FROM UNDERNEATH HOME OF ELDERLY COUPLE
  • Date: 28th October 1995
  • Summary: HADZICI, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (OCTOBER 28, 1995) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV HOUSE OF KOVILJKA AND FRECKO ELEZ 0.04 2. SLV BORE OF SHAFT INTO HOUSE FOUNDATIONS (2 SHOTS) 0.13 3. SV/MCU ONLOOKERS (3 SHOTS) 0.25 4. SLV FRENCH UNITED NATIONS BOMB DISPOSAL TEAM LIFTING BOMB BY WINCH 0.34 5. SV ONLOOKER 0.38 6. SV/VA
  • Embargoed: 12th November 1995 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HADZICI, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
  • Reuters ID: LVADDNGLZ5SU11T0VYU44QPFAW0F
  • Story Text: An elderly Bosnian Serb couple planned to sleep a little more peacefully after a United Nations (U.N.) bomb disposal team removed a huge unexploded bomb from underneath their house on Saturday (October 28).

    A French disposal team gingerly retrieved the 450-kilogram (1,000-pound) bomb which had rested underneath the home of Koviljka and Frecko Elez in the village of Hadzici in Bosnia since September 11.

    That's when NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) jets dropped the United States-made bomb during a sortie against a Bosnian Serb ammunition dump near the Elez residence.

    The bomb missed the dump and plunged into the ground under the house without exploding.

    The elderly couple had no place to go so they continued to live in the house over the unexploded bomb.

    It took U.N. soldiers from the 17th airborne engineering regiment 21 days to remove the bomb. It was a very dangerous, difficult task because the hole was so deep that work could only be carried out for 10 minutes at a time.

    After the bomb was removed it was taken to the former Bosnian Serb ammunition dump where it was exploded along with another bomb which had been found.

    U.N. Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Yves Dominguez said there were four more unexploded bombs near the village which posed a threat to the villagers and must be removed.


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