The mayor of one coastal Athens municipality on Thursday revealed that 314 WWII-era bombs have been discovered during excavation work for the massive Helleniko property development project, located where the former international airport once operated.
The mayor of the Elliniko-Argyroupoli municipality, Yannis Konstantatos, said the cache of German-made ordnance was discovered at a depth of two meters, and located under a former social club, nursery schools and sports facilities at the site, where the privatization known as “The Ellinikon” is under construction.
“Thank God nothing bad occurred, or even an explosion. One wonders how an entire airport and dozens of municipal and civil aviation facilities operated in this minefield. Our municipality suffered the deaths of residents during the war, from (aerial) bombing, mainly by the Allies,” he said, referring to the period of the German occupation of the greater Athens area between April 1941 and October 1944.
