Wildfires set off mines, threaten ammunition factory in Bosnia
13 August 2012
On August 9 firefighters were battling to contain two wildfires near an ammunition factory in southern Bosnia. One of the blazes set off explosions in a minefield left over from the country's war in the 1990s, officials said, and heavy winds made it difficult for the firefighters and attendant military helicopters to tackle the two blazes in the populated area.
One of the fires in a forested area has set off a number of mines, planted in the war in nineties
Both fires were threatening the Igman ammunition factory on the outskirts of Konjic village from opposite sides, with one of them burning in the heavily mined forest.
This summer has been one of the hottest on record in Bosnia, with no rain in the country for two months.
Further south, several villages were evacuated because of other fires that have been raging around the southern city of Mostar.
In eastern Bosnia, near the town of Gorazde, another wildfire was burning in a minefield, but away fom populated areas.