Dozens of German warships from World War II have emerged from the Danube River near the Serbia-Romania border, revealed by record-low water levels. The vessels are part of Adolf Hitler's Black Sea fleet, which the German military deliberately sank in September 1944 to impede the Soviet advance late in the war.
Historians estimate up to 200 German warships were scuttled in this manner. Many are believed to still carry explosives, posing a hazard as they become visible.
The Serbian government has previously attempted to remove the wrecks, but most remain in place because of the dangerous ordnance they contain.
Other World War II remnants have also appeared along the Danube. In Budapest, a German military motorcycle was recovered from the riverbed. Authorities in Slovakia found and detonated an unexploded British 700-kilogram bomb, loading it onto a specialized firefighter vehicle with a sand bed for transport to a five-meter-deep pit.
British Royal Air Force operations mined the Danube in 1944 to disrupt enemy troop movements.
The Danube, Europe's second-longest river, flows through 10 countries. Its low water levels are creating hazardous navigation conditions along its course.
Prolonged drought has left major European rivers significantly below typical levels, contributing to an energy crisis as numerous power plants depend on river water for cooling systems.
Temperature records have been broken across central and eastern Europe. Slovakia, Austria and Hungary all registered record temperatures this week. On Thursday, the Slovak hydrometeorological agency reported a new national record of 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) in the village of Dolné Plachtince.
