More than 400 WWII shells found in French village after wildfires

More than 400 World War II-era shells and other munitions have been recovered from the French village of Le Porge after devastating wildfires exposed long-buried explosives, local authorities said.

The discovery was made after explosions were heard near the village in France's Gironde region following last month's fires, which burned more than 160,000 hectares and became the largest wildfires ever recorded in the country, according to CNN.

"A bomb disposal operation was carried out today with Civil Protection specialists, recovering more than 400 shells and munitions," local authorities said in a statement.

Le Porge, home to around 3,500 residents, was largely evacuated in July as the fires swept through southwestern France. Residents have now begun returning after officials declared affected areas safe.

Commandant Philippe Delemotte, head of the Bordeaux bomb disposal unit, said firefighters were alerted after heat from the fires triggered explosions.

"Following the fires, explosions were heard, and we responded last week, and we found this field and removed 75 shells," he told France Info.

"Here, for instance, you've got two mortar shells, a French mortar shell and some German 5 [centimetre] shells," he added.

Delemotte said the heat likely caused buried munitions to detonate, revealing their location. Authorities established an exclusion zone, warning that explosions could send "lethal fragments" several hundred metres.

French President Emmanuel Macron described the wildfire crisis last month as unprecedented, saying: "The situation we are dealing with today is the most severe we have ever recorded, the toughest since the Second World War."

The discovery comes as extreme heat and drought continue to expose wartime relics across Europe, including World War II bombs along the Danube River in Hungary, where unusually low water levels have also raised concerns over cooling supplies for the country's only nuclear power plant.

By Sabina Mammadli