At the request of the prefecture of Pistoia, the bomb squads of the Army, under the 2nd Engineer Regiment of Piacenza, defused and set off an aircraft bomb dating back to the Second World War. The bomb, of English manufacture, weighing 250 lbs (110 kg), was in a bad state of conservation but still active and loaded with about 30 kg of TNT and was found on July 14th along via Pratese, a few meters away. from the houses located at number 83, during some roadside excavation works.
The operations, directed and coordinated by the prefecture of Pistoia, started at 07.30 with the evacuation of more than 19.000 people residing in the so-called danger zone: a city area of 1.600 meters radius from the place where the bomb was found. The competent authorities suspend the transit along the following roads: the eastern ring road of Pistoia, SP47, SP5 Montalese, SP1 Variante Pratese and SP9 Montalbano (limited to the Via Bonellina section) and the prohibition of flying over the airspace involved in the operations of remediation.
The intervention of the Army bomb squad, lasting a total of almost four hours, was divided into two phases: the first of these consisted of the so-called displacement, that is to say the removal of the tail spool, a particularly difficult operation that the bomb technicians had to execute by hand, since the tail of the bomb had been damaged by the excavator machine the 14 last July, the day of its discovery. Instead, the second phase saw the transport of the bomb safely to an area suitable for the subsequent blasting, located at the former airfield of Pistoia, a couple of kilometers from Via Pratese. Here was the second critical point: during the excavation work on the hole in which the bomb would have been destroyed, some ENEL cables were cut that were not shown on any of the maps in the possession of the authorities. The power line was however restored in a short time and the Army operators were able to continue with the intervention until the blast of the bomb, which occurred a few minutes before the 15.00.
Several collection points have been set up in the city for evacuated citizens, including the “Marini” barracks, home to the 183rd parachute regiment, with a capacity of 300 people. The Army, demonstrating the perfect synergy between military personnel, the prefecture, the police forces, the National Fire Brigade, the Military Corps of the Red Cross and the municipality of Pistoia, has contributed to reinforcing the device coordinated by the prefecture providing facilities and logistical means for the evacuation of personnel and the safety of the area. The collaboration provided by the Pistoians themselves is also excellent.
