Shells on the shore, but don’t pick them up ...

AUTHORITIES in Germany have warned the public after exceptionally low waters in the river Elbe exposed grenades and ammunition left over from the Second World War.

The heatwave gripping Europe has reduced the Elbe, one of Germany’s three great rivers, to its lowest level in decades, and walkers exploring its banks have stumbled on ordnance that has lain undisturbed since 1945.

There were finds at five separate locations over the past week, and in total 21 pieces of ordnance have been discovered so far this year in the state of Saxony-anhalt alone, including tank shells, hand grenades and rifle bullets.

“Even after decades under water, ammunition can still be dangerous,” Grit Merker, a spokesman for the Saxony-anhalt police said. Sediment can form on the outside of unexploded shells and grenades, she warned.

Large quantities of unused ammunition were disposed of in the Elbe at the end of the Second World War.