Record number of WWI grenades found at construction site in Turkey

BALIKESİR

While digging a building pit in province of Balıkesir’s Bandırma district in Marmara region on April 25, construction workers found more than 830 hand grenades that are thought to be remnants of World War I.

Of the 831 hand grenades, 420 were still active, bomb disposal officers of local police force said.

The seaside district of Bandırma is located 131 kilometers east of the Gallipoli Peninsula, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers lost their lives at sea and land battles as part of World War I between the Ottoman-German-Austrian alliance and the Entente powers - Britain, France and Russia.

The majority of the small bombs - 656 corded bombs and 70 grenades - belonged to the Ottoman army, whereas 105 hand grenades were German-made, according to experts.

Five of the Ottoman hand grenades and 310 of the Ottoman corded bombs were filled with gunpowder.

Some 265 bomb cords were also found along the small bombs.

All the explosive materials will be disposed by bomb squads of the provincial police department, according to local media reports.

In 1920, Bandırma was occupied by the Allied Powers led by the Greek military forces. The district was liberated in 1922 during the Turkish War of Independence.

Bandırma, which has a population of around 160,000, has been an important port city of the Republic of Turkey. The district has attracted population from the Balkans, the Crimean peninsula and other parts of Turkey and seen a construction boom in recent years.