Explosive device found in WWII Red Army soldier's coffin in SW Estonia

The remains of 68 World War II dead were buried in Vändra`s new cemetery. Photo: Marko Šorin

A team relocating the remains of World War II Soviet soldiers from graves in a park in the town of Vandra in southwestern Estonia found what looked like a booby trap grenade inside one of the coffins, Parnu Postimees reported.

Marko Sorin, deputy municipality mayor of North Parnu County, said that in one of the coffins a grenade was found that was probably waiting to take someone with it «to the world where the deceased had gone,» as it was likely intended to go off when someone opened the lid. But the fuse hadn't been put in, Sorin added.

«The coffin was booby trapped, but luckily the one who booby trapped it was a bumbler,» he added.

By chance, the team relocating the remains approached the coffin from the side, which is why they saw the grenade. A rope was attached to the grenade, all those at the scene went to a safe distance, and one of the people, hiding behind a pile of soil, pulled the grenade out of the coffin. The grenade didn't go off and it was further dealt with by an EOD team.

An unexploded grenade was found in one of the coffins. Photo: Marko Šorin

The soldier remains were collected and deposited first in the chapel of the Vandra cemetery. A week later, a specialist arrived and divided the remains between 68 cardboard coffins. A neutral grave mark was placed on the new common grave in the cemetery.

The remains of two soldiers, whose names were known, were collected by relatives for reburial.

In North Parnu County municipality, all Soviet soldiers buried in common graves have now found a better resting place, that is, have been buried in a cemetery. No opening of graves was necessary in the small town of Parnu-Jaagupi, as the Red Army graves there are already located in a graveyard. The Soviet monument there was replaced by a neutral grave mark.