Cemetery Expansion Reveals Buried WWII UXO

Orendi, Malta  Workers excavating an area in effort to expand a cemetery unearthed a large UXO item. The workers immediately called local authorities who responded with members of the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) 3rd Regiment EOD team based out of Fort Mosta. The EOD unit reportedly identified the UXO as a German 500 kg aerial bomb. The bomb was rendered safe and moved for disposal. Oddly enough, plans call for the bomb to be disposed of by dumping at sea now that it is safe to move, a practice abandoned by most other countries.

The cemetery expansion area is located near the airport which was one of the most heavily bombed areas in Malta during WWII. The German Luftwaffe mounted countless air raids on the area in their attempts to damage or destroy the British Royal Air force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm fighters and bombers based there.

The UXO find was not unusual for older residents who recalled that numerous UXO were found when the airport's runways were expanded in the 1980s.