Police: Man killed after finding ammunition in Austrian lake

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a 59-year-old man has died after a piece of ammunition, likely a relic from World War II, exploded on the edge of a small lake in southern Austria.

A Carinthia state police spokesperson said the man was handling the ammunition by the shore of Lake Ossiach early Friday when it exploded, killing him.

It wasn’t immediately clear what kind of ammunition was involved.

Police spokesperson Dominik Sodamin told The Associated Press that large amounts of ammunition were dumped in Austrian lakes at the end of World War II, but they typically don’t pose a great risk to swimmers and other lake users.

Unexploded ordnance from the war sometimes surface in Britain, Poland, Germany and other countries, where explosive specialists work to clear them.