A stockpile of more than 200 U.S artillery shells from the Second World War discovered at a school in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara has been safely removed.
Honiara is estimated to be littered with thousands of bombs and shells left behind on the battlefield after the six-month Battle of Guadalcanal ended in 1943.
Royal Solomon Islands Police Force(RSIPF) in a statement said the unexploded ordnance was uncovered at St Nicholas School, near the National Referral Hospital, while a hole was being dug for sewage at a staff house.
“A total of 200 plus U.S projectiles has been removed to a safe location at Hell’s Point with the support of the Australian Defence Force and now waiting for safe destruction,” said RSIPF Inspector Clifford Tunuki said in the statement.
The school was used to house athletes during the Pacific Games in Honiara last year.
Tunuki, the acting director of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Department, declared “the vicinity’s safe for the school to do its business” and warned people to be vigilant and report any further finds.
“Now the vicinity is safe for school to do its business and parents and guardians are encouraged to bring their children to school now that all the UXOs safely move out from the school.”
“This incident really is an eye opener for schools, domestic and commercial houses for them to think heavily about site inspection for UXOs before they start erecting buildings.”
“I appeal to all of us when we see anything that looks suspicious like a bomb please report them to EODD on phone 7495215 or call the police free toll line on phone 999.
Honiara was the battlefield where U.S Marines halted the Japanese advance on land in the Pacific for the first time. An estimated 26,000 Japanese and allied soldiers died, along with an unknown number of Solomon Islanders.
Deaths still regularly occur in the country 80 years later, when UXOs detonate.
The detonation failure rate for munitions used during the Second World War was up to one-in-three, leaving explosives scattered across former Pacific battlefields.
Australia has led the disposal efforts and trained RSIPF officers, with support from the U.S and Japan, during more than a decade of clearance operations in the country.
In March, 700 UXOs were uncovered and destroyed in a 12-day operation in Western Province.
The first full UXO clearance operation in Solomon Islands since the COVID 19 pandemic began is due next month again in Western Province, the Australian High Commission said in a statement in July.
