Europe’s worst drought in years has dropped the Danube to its lowest level in nearly a century, exposing the wreckage of dozens of explosive-laden German warships sunk during World War II near the river port city of Prahovo in Serbia, Reuters reported. The wreckage also put the Romanians at risk.

They are among the hundreds of ships sunk along the Danube by Nazi Germany’s fleet in 1944 as they retreated during a Soviet offensive, and still impede river traffic during low water.

However, this year’s drought, which scientists see as a result of global warming, has revealed more than 20 shipwrecks in a stretch of the Danube near Prahovo in eastern Serbia, many of which still contain tons of ammunition and explosives and pose a danger to shipping. .

“The German flotilla left behind a big environmental disaster that threatens us, the people of Prahov,” said 74-year-old Velimir Trailovich, a pensioner from Prahovo who wrote a book about German ships.

Workers in the local fishing industry are also at risk, including from Romania, which is just across the coast.

Months of drought and record temperatures have restricted river traffic on vital arteries in other parts of Europe, including Germany, Italy and France. In Serbia, the authorities resorted to dredging to keep navigation on the Danube open.

Some of the wrecks narrowed the navigable section of this section of the Danube to only 100 meters from 180 meters.

Scattered across the riverbed, some ships still have turrets, conning bridges, broken masts and twisted hulls, while others lie mostly beneath the sandy banks.

In March, the Serbian government announced a tender for the salvage of the wreckage and the removal of ammunition and explosives. The cost of the operation was estimated at 29 million euros.