Naval MINE washes ashore on popular Florida beach, as bomb squad are called to tackle explosive amid mystery about where it came from
- A deputy on patrol found the unexploded munition at around 2.30am Sunday
- Broward County bomb squad arrived to remove mine and ensure it was safe
- Theories include that it could have been used by smugglers to carry drugs
A naval mine washed ashore on a Florida beach which is popular with sunseekers – leaving officials baffled about its origins.
A deputy on patrol found the unexploded munition at around 2.30am Sunday just by the water’s edge at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and police urgently sealed off the area.
The Broward County bomb squad arrived to remove the mine and ensure it was safe. It will now be handed over to the US Air Force for further investigation.
A deputy on patrol found the unexploded munition at around 2.30am Sunday just by the water’s edge at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and police urgently sealed off the area
The Broward County bomb squad arrived to remove the mine by tractor and ensure it was safe
The word ‘inert’ could be seen on the device, suggesting it could be a ‘dummy’ device used during training.
Naval mines are usually laid by a ship and attached to the sea bed.
They explode on impact from a surface vessel or submarine, and can only be cleared by a specialist minesweeper.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office said a deputy found the device during a patrol of the sandy beach, which is around 30 miles north of Miami, at 2.30am Sunday.
‘BSO deputies secured the area around the item and closed off a small section of the beach,’ the sheriff said in a statement.
It was ‘determined that the sea mine was safe’ and it was taken away before the beach was reopened.
The word ‘inert’ could be seen on the device, suggesting it could be a ‘dummy’ device used during training. It is pictured being removed by tractor
Video shot by Local10News showed the naval mine on the beach around a yard from the waterline.
Later, in further footage, officials could be seen loading the large metal object onto a trailer after it was removed from the beach using a tractor.
Military sources told the channel that mines are sometimes filled with drugs and left in the sea by traffickers before being picked up by conspirators.
It is not clear whether members of the public were on the beach when the device was found, but as it was early in the morning it is unlikely there were large crowds.
The origin of the device is still unclear.
Naval mines are usually laid by a ship and attached to the sea bed. They explode on impact from a surface vessel or submarine, and can only be cleared by a specialist minesweeper
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