Two workers were killed Wednesday afternoon in an explosion of a shell of the World War I during construction works in an industrial area of Ypres in western Belgium, confirmed the Belgian Defense Department. Another worker was injured in a critical condition.

The region of Ypres was the last position of the British, French and Belgian armies in Belgium against the advancing Germans during the WWI, which outbreak centenary is commemorated this year. It is also the site of the first military use of chemical weapons by humanity, which took place in 1917.

In late February, the Service of removal and destruction of explosive devices (SEDEE) of the Belgian Defense Department has begun an operation to neutralize many explosives buried in this part of the province of West Flanders near the French border. Until Wednesday, deminers have unearthed 815 explosive devices.

According to the Belgian Defense Department, about 30 percent of more than half a billion shots have never exploded and continue to threaten the lives of local people. The Ypres region is one of the most exposed to this unfortunate historical heritage. Endi

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