Military ordnance found near Tapa station halted train traffic
Rail traffic between Tallinn and the second and third cities in Estonia, Tartu and Narva, was disrupted for over an hour Tuesday lunchtime after an unexploded item of military ordnance was found close to Tapa rail station, daily Postimees reports.
The munition, described by Postimees as of a "war era", was found in the course of excavating a culvert close to the station at Tapa, around 80km east of Tallinn, shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
Tarvi Viisalu, safety manager at railtrack operator Eesti Raudtee, told regional daily Virumaa Teataja that the device had been discovered during excavation work at the station, and was still awaiting identification and removal from an explosive ordnance disposal team at the time he spoke to the paper.
The incident is not the first case that ordnance has been found in the vicinity of Tapa rail station.
Rail traffic via Tapa, an important junction on both the lines to Narva and to Tartu, was halted while the situation was evaluated, but has since been reopened, while passenger carrier Elron offered its apologies to passengers for any inconvenience.
Tapa is home to a military base which in recent years has been expanded to host NATO allies, alongside Estonian Defense Forces personnel.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
Source: Postimees
