Illegal WWII ammunition diver dead - Germany

[DandyDon]

Diver dead from lake salvaged – ItzaGoal365 Space Discussions – Latest Football News, Transfers and Rumours

In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, rescue workers have found a diver dead in a lake. The victim was said to have illegally searched for ammunition from the Second World War together with a friend.

Police and rescue workers have recovered a diver dead from a lake in Schwerin. As a police spokesman said, the man was reported by a friend after a joint dive in the brick inner lake shortly after midnight as missing. A first search in the dark was unsuccessful, in the morning helpers discovered the casualty.

Resuscitation attempts of an emergency doctor were unsuccessful. After initial investigations there is the suspicion that the men had searched illegally for ammunition from the Second World War at night, said the police spokesman.

There have been several reports of illegal diving in the brick inner lake. In this lake and in the neighboring Pfaffenteich in 1945 at the end of the war tons of ammunition had been disposed of. In Ziegelinnensee there is an anchor ban and to a large extent bathing prohibition.

The acquaintance of the victim was a local. He alerted the rescuers from a nearby hotel. What exactly led to the accident, is still under investigation. Also specialists of ammunition recovery service are in use.

 

[John the Pom]

Probably best to leave that stuff to the specialist clearance divers - most likely plenty of toxic and unstable materials down there.

It reminds me of a story years ago in "Diver" magazine about a bloke who salvaged some cordite from underwater around the UK. He wanted to dry it out, so he put it in the microwave oven at the factory canteen where he worked. It was a bit too effective, producing a spectacular deflagration which removed the oven door.

 

[Snoweman]

I wonder what resuscitation attempts were made after waiting till morning to recover the body.

 

[michael-fisch]

I wonder what resuscitation attempts were made after waiting till morning to recover the body.

Why? Its perfectly normal for DLRG members to do mouth to mouth resusitation of bodys that they have just found in summer stlill wearing ice skates.
Remember, as a lifeguard, nobody is dead untill a doctor states so!

Michael

 

[wgw04024]

Give the buddy credit, at least he didn't tell the authorities they were diving in a completely different location...

 

[Hatul]

If they were doing something illegal they had to take measures to avoid detection (like diving at night, perhaps avoid using lights, etc.) and those would severely increase the risks.

 

[Chilly_Dipper]

If they were doing something illegal they had to take measures to avoid detection (like diving at night, perhaps avoid using lights, etc.) and those would severely increase the risks.

Having done a pile of night diving I have to say nothing attracts attention more then lights flashing under the water or at the shoreline in the dark ;-) Almost every dive I've done at night has had someone standing at the dock wondering WTF was going on under the water when I came back up.

 

[driftwood]

A friend was doing a rotation at Grafenwöhr in the late 70's. When a lake was drained, they found ordinance dating back the the Franco Prussian War. Solution, call in an 8" artillery barrage and keep firing till secondary explosions were rare.

Great training for the M110's and deemed much safer.

 

[Arcilux]

A friend was doing a rotation at Grafenwöhr in the late 70's. When a lake was drained, they found ordinance dating back the the Franco Prussian War. Solution, call in an 8" artillery barrage and keep firing till secondary explosions were rare.

Great training for the M110's and deemed much safer.

My dad was an explosive ordinance disposal tech for the military, and in his words nothing was more dangerous than old ordinance and duds. Ordinance and ammunition properly stored would behave as intended, duds and old munitions not properly stored (i.e. things found buried or underwater) could react unexpectedly. I can't imagine purposefully looking for 70+ year old munitions underwater without special training and a lot of preparations.

 

[leadduck]

WWII munitions: Time bombs at the bottom of the Baltic Sea | DW | 07.02.2019

quote: "In German waters alone, the quantity of conventional munition and chemical warfare agents is estimated at 300,000 tons. For example, the Kolberger Heide munitions dumping area is located directly outside Kiel - a restricted area in which around 35,000 tons of sea mines and torpedoes are located at a maximum depth of twelve metres and within sight of the beach."

Bombenfunde: Wo in Nordsee & Ostsee noch Munition lagert - WELT [German language]

Divers defusing a bomb in the center of Frankfurt:
Sprengung der Bombe in Frankfurt