14 Aug 2017

Old bombs at Pacific war sites more dangerous than ever - NGO

12:42 pm on 14 August 2017

An NGO says unexploded World War Two bombs in Palau are now more volatile than ever before.

Cleared Ground Demining has been removing the discarded or lost explosives from around Palau, particularly Peleliu, for the last eight years.

To date they have removed, diffused and safely detonated more than 50,000 tonnes of material.

A spokesperson for the NGO, Cassandra McKeown, said the work is becoming increasingly urgent as the old military ordnance is now more dangerous than ever.

"Because the bombs are 73 years old they are in a really nasty state of deterioration. So they are leaking all those sort of toxic chemicals out. So even worse than the ones you will find today in Afghanistan because it is all leaking and distorted and even more volatile."