The largest arsenal of unexploded ordnances (UXO) has been discovered at a construction site near the stadium in Bitola, Republic of North Macedonia. The unexploded artillery shells are remnants from the First World War. So far, over 4,000 UXOs have been discovered, but it is estimated that the number is expected to rise to between 10,000 and 30,000.
Pyrotechnicians from Protection and Rescue Directorate, who are end users on the VECTOR project, have been working over the last week to secure, transport and destroy the UXOs. The Pelagonija region in North Macedonia has a large number of UXOs dated to WW1. The discovery of such a large quantity of explosive devices in a residential area highlights the immense risk UXOs pose to public safety and to explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) technicians who place themselves in danger to neutralise the threat of remnants of war.