Tanner: “Specialists from the demining service contribute every day to making Austria safer”
Vienna (OTS) – Last year, the Federal Army’s demining service (EMD) was deployed 1,075 times to recover, transport and destroy war relics in Austria. This involved a total of 51,292 kilograms of war material of various kinds. For example, the demining specialists neutralized 27.2 tons of infantry ammunition, 275 hand grenades, 17 rocket-propelled grenades and 45 unexploded aerial bombs.
“The demining specialists of the Austrian Armed Forces contribute every day to making Austria a little safer by removing war relics. Despite the end of the First and Second World Wars, there is still a significant risk of finding such relics in Austria. I would like to thank the demining experts for their demanding efforts. “They are operational around the clock to remove potential threats and protect people from harm,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.
Challenging areas of application
The areas of operation of the demining service were again diverse last year: various bodies of water were included as well as forest areas, cities and alpine terrain. The EMD diving group recovered around 90.7 kilograms of war materials from the water. In high alpine terrain – especially in the Austrian-Italian border area – the experts from the Alpine group recovered 40.8 kilograms of ammunition from the First World War. All finds were rendered harmless and transported away.
Destruction and disposal of war material
The EMD destroyed 19.1 tons of recovered war material by detonating them at the Federal Army’s blasting sites. Around six tons of infantry ammunition were annealed in a special kiln and the resulting ammunition scrap was recycled. Around 6.7 tons of war scrap was sent directly for final disposal.
What was and was particularly challenging for the specialists was that they encountered ammunition that was not safe to handle and could not be safely transported 31 times. These parts had to be destroyed by blasting on site, i.e. outside of the Federal Army’s blasting sites. 125.9 kilograms of war material were rendered harmless. All explosions took place without any damage to property or people.
The areas of application
The deployment density was highest in Lower Austria in 2023. 13.9 tons of war material were removed there in 480 missions. Behind it is Styria with 23.2 tons in 155 operations, followed by Upper Austria with around 6.4 tons in 145 operations. In Burgenland, around 780 kilograms were neutralized in 75 missions, followed by Vienna with five tons in 72 missions. In Carinthia, the EMD removed 309 kilograms in 59 missions, in Tyrol 1.2 tons in 47 missions, and in Salzburg around 255 kilograms in 35 missions. Vorarlberg comes last with seven missions and 226 kilograms of war material recovered.
What to do if you see a suspicious item?
Handling ammunition is extremely dangerous for unauthorized persons. If an object is found whose origin and nature appear suspicious, you should keep your distance, prevent people or animals from getting too close to the find and contact the nearest police station immediately. The employees of the Federal Army’s demining service are then called in to defuse the war relic and transport it safely away.
The demining service
The EMD employees are experts in all types of ammunition that date from before 1955 and are found on Austrian federal territory. The EMD was transferred as an independent department from the Federal Ministry of the Interior to the Federal Ministry of Defense on January 1, 2013. Due to the offices in Vienna, Graz and Linz-Hörsching as well as a 24-hour on-call service, the demining specialists can be on site within a very short time to examine suspicious objects and eliminate dangers from past wars.
More information can be found here:
https://www.bmlv.gv.at/organisation/gattung/entminungsdienst.shtml
Questions & Contact:
Federal Ministry of National Defense
Press department
+43 664-622-1005
presse@bmlv.gv.at
http://www.bundesheer.at
@Bundesheerbauer