A bomb was detonated on the beach for three days in a row. — © PZ Westkust/MDK
Koksijde –
This week, the DOVO bomb disposal service detonated a heavy bomb on the beach of Koksijde three days in a row. That happened on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Excavation work is underway on the beach, specifically looking for explosives. “It cannot be ruled out that bombs will still be found and we will intervene,” says Jacques Callebaut of DOVO.
Excavation work is currently underway on the beach of Koksijde by the Braet company on behalf of the Maritime and Coastal Services Agency (MDK). There is also a specific search for explosives. The position also saw heavy fighting during the Second World War and was home to the German Atlantic Wall, a heavy defense line with numerous bunkers. A copy of this can still be seen at the Queen Elisabeth Institute (KEI). A 100-kilogram aircraft bomb was found there on Wednesday. It was detonated remotely at the waterline. (Read more below the photo)
Wednesday’s explosion. — © PZ Westkust
Release situation quickly
But an explosive device was also found and detonated on Thursday and Friday. One of these was a so-called depth charge of one meter in size. “That is ammunition from a French anti-submarine from the Second World War, more specifically an ASW anti-submarine weapon,” explains Jacques Callebaut of DOVO. “That explosive device was also detonated on the beach. However, this is not standard procedure when encountering ammunition on the beach. That always depends on the circumstances. What explosive is it? Can it be transported? How quickly does action need to be taken? What is the situation on the beach? It is that we always opt to normalize the situation on site as quickly as possible. In these cases the safest option was to make a hole in the sand, insert the ammunition and detonate it from a distance. Our team from DOVO Zeebrugge always went on site for this purpose. In the past it has even happened that a DOVO team is on standby on the beach during excavation works, if the occupation permits and if there is a high probability of finding explosives. Now our team has been on site for three days.” (Read more below the photo)
This explosive device was also found this week. — © MDK
3,500 interventions
The excavation work on the beach, just before the tourist season, will continue for a while. “And so there is a real chance that we will pass by and detonate more bombs,” Callebaut continues. “When we do that, we always clean up the large pieces of metal. Collecting the really small pieces is impossible, but they disappear with the tide. It is certainly not unusual that many bombs are found on the beach. Last year we intervened 3,500 times after finding an explosive.” DOVO warns people to always notify the police if they encounter explosive equipment, not to touch the equipment and to keep a safe distance.