Portuguese Navy Deactivates Explosive Device Found On Beach In The Tróia Peninsula

AN ‘extremely dangerous’ device discovered on a beach in Portugal was deactivated by the Portuguese Navy.

As reported by the military this Saturday, August 5, the ‘extremely dangerous’ object was found yesterday, Friday 4. A member of the public located it on a beach in the Troia peninsula, some 135 km from the country’s capital city, Lisbon.

When the tide came in, the object was subsequently submerged so it was necessary to evacuate people from the area as a precaution.

The Navy released a statement

In a statement released today on its Facebook page, the Navy stated: ‘On site, in coordination with the Captaincy of the Port of Setúbal, the Detachment of Divers Sapadores nº1 (DMS1) identified a smoke device which is used in a marine environment for signalling and marking areas in emergency situations at sea’.

It continued: ‘With the rise of the tide throughout the afternoon, the object was submerged and it was necessary to signal the prohibited area in the vicinity for the safety of citizens’.

‘A DMS1 Explosive Device Deactivation team was activated, assisted by elements of the Maritime Police and the Navy’s Operational Experimentation Center (CEOM)’. It was finally deactivated with DMS1 support at 10:55 pm last night.

The Navy explained that: ‘Due to the confluence of various maritime and air routes, this type of artefact is found with some frequency on the Portuguese coast and requires precautions in its handling because it can be extremely dangerous’.

Such devices should never be handled by members of the public

They warned that: ‘Whenever a device of this type is found, it should not be removed, and the Local Maritime Authority should be immediately contacted through direct contact or the national emergency number 112’.

The area where the device was found, on the Troia peninsula, is one of the most popular tourist regions on the Portuguese coast.

Portugal currently has an extreme security operation in place due to the visit of Pope Francis to celebrate World Youth Day in Lisbon, an event which has attracted an estimated one million pilgrims to the city and its surrounding areas.