Thousands of tourists had their travel plans plunged into chaos on Thursday after an airport in Sicily was closed to allow a British WWII bomb to be detonated.

The 113 kilo device was found on an industrial estate near Catania airport, forcing local authorities to evacuate all people within 1 kilometre of the site – an area which includes the airport.

The closure of the airport caused disruption for travellers on Thursday morning and disrupted traffic on nearby roads and railway lines. The airport said in a statement on its website that thirteen flights had been cancelled or diverted due to the bomb, with a further ten flights delayed later in the day.

During the Second World War a large number of bombs were dropped on the island of Sicily as part of the allied invasion, otherwise known as Operation Husky.

bbabo.Net