A 500-kg World War II bomb safely defused in Belgrade

Saturday 09 August 2025 - 14:00

A British aerial bomb weighing 500 kilograms, dropped on Belgrade during World War II, was successfully defused on Saturday, according to the Serbian Ministry of the Interior. The unexploded device, discovered on Monday at a depth of 2.5 meters at a construction site in the “Belgrade Waterfront” residential district, was found near the banks of the Sava River, close to the city center.

Authorities evacuated residents from the area for several hours to ensure public safety. Interior Minister Ivica Dačić explained that the bomb was of British manufacture and had been dropped in 1944 during Allied air raids on Nazi-occupied Belgrade. The explosive contained over 200 kg of active material, posing a significant threat to nearby residents.

The device, classified as M.C. 1,000 lb Mk, was transported to an uninhabited sandy zone more than 60 km east of Belgrade, where it was neutralized. The operation involved more than 100 police officers, including emergency specialists, and 22 vehicles.

Belgrade suffered multiple bombardments during World War II—first by German forces in 1941 and later by the Allies in 1944—before its liberation in October of that year.