Explosion at Romanian Tourist Resort Was Russian Sea Mine That Drifted From Ukraine War: Reports

An explosion rocked a popular Romanian tourist seaside resort on Monday morning, the blast at the sea wall sending a plume of water into the air, and local reports state it is believed to have been a sea mine detonating.

Local media described the blast as having taken place around 9AM in the morning, only a few dozen yards from the nearest hotel in Costinești, Romania. The resort is the busiest on Romania’s Black Sea coast says ProTV, which interviewed a local who said the blast threw rocks high into the air, and reported that the explosion was loud enough to cause pain in the ears for some.

There were no hospitalisations, however, which is being treated with relief in Romanian media given what a busy resort Costinești is at this time of year.

A lifeguard who witnessed the blast said: “I didn’t imagine it could be so strong, because we’ve never seen anything like this before. The earth shook. At first, when I heard the thud and thick smoke, I thought a gas tank at the hotel had exploded. Everyone was scared, no one knew what happened.”

A response including the emergency services and a naval minesweeper ship and a military helicopter were deployed to the blast area. Popular Romanian-focus news site HotNews reports divers were seen off the coast searching.

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Romanian news reports say the present working hypothesis is that the blast was caused by a Russian naval mine that became untethered from its intended position in the Black Sea as part of Russia’s blockade of Ukraine. Free to drift, the mine made its way down-coast until it hit the sea wall at Costinești and exploded, creating a massive noise and sending a plume of water high into the air.

Romanian naval forces command said in a statement Monday evening that they had searched the coast and found no more mines.

Assuming the working theory is correct, this would not be not the first time sea mines have drifted into Romanian waters from the Ukraine war. Others were detected as they drifted by Romania’s navy and safely detonated away from people, ProTV reports. Romania’s navy is on particularly high alert as Tuesday is national Navy Day, an annual holiday to honour the force.

While the stray mine may amount to an unwanted but perhaps not unexpected overspill from a neighbouring state resisting occupation, Russia has still shown a willingness to launch military strikes right up to Romania’s border recently. Since Ukraine switched part of its grain exports from Black Sea ports to Danube ports — which touch Romania’s border on that border — Russia has launched strikes on those facilities as part of its blockade.

The strikes coming down were so close to Romania — a NATO member state — Romanian military forces are reported to have watched them coming down from their posts.