An operation in the old town of Moosburg caused a stir: LKA specialists arrived because a container for toxic substances was found in the underground of a house.
- A container was discovered during sewer work in the Moosburg center.
- Apparently there was a highly toxic hazardous substance in it.
- Experts from the State Office of Criminal Investigation took care of the safe removal.
Moosburg - The operation only lasted a few minutes, but caused a sensation: Because a can with apparently dangerous contents had come to light during renovation work on a sewer shaft in Herrnstrasse, in the middle of Moosburg's old town, specialists from the State Criminal Police Office had to move in on Thursday afternoon.
As Hans-Jürgen Hintermeier, Vice-Chief of the Moosburg police reports, the matter had already started on Wednesday: “During renovation work, a niche was discovered in the masonry in the building that runs next to the canal. The workers initially suspected a ventilation shaft of the sewer behind the cover there - and broke open the access. ”According to Hintermeier, however, a kind of walled-in safe with a black tin can then emerged. “A skull symbol was depicted on the can - and the inscription“ Phosphorus ”.
Dangerous find in Moosburg: police already have suspicions
In order to secure and dispose of the can, which, according to the police, contained the contents airtight, the local disposal company Heinz and the special technical group of the State Criminal Police Office were ordered to the site on Thursday afternoon. Secured by local police officers and members of the volunteer fire brigade, the can was packed in a special container and handed over to the disposal team, which transported the hazardous material to a hazardous waste incineration plant in the Pfaffenhofen area.
According to investigations by the experts on site, the content was white phosphorus. This is highly poisonous. In contact with oxygen, escaping gases pose a great danger. The police suspect that the can had already been stored there for 50 to 60 years. According to Hans-Jürgen Hintermeier, it is ruled out that it is leftover from the Second World War, where white phosphorus was used for incendiary bombs. "At the moment the substance is used in industry, for example for the production of phosphoric acid for beverages." At the time of storage, as Hintermeier researched, the substance had also been used for pest control. “Moles and water voles, for example, were gassed with it. To do this, the phosphorus was brought into the ground. ”Such use also suggests the fact that the building in question used to be a drugstore. “When white phosphorus is sealed off from oxygen, nothing can actually happen,” says Hintermeier. "In the past, this was used in minimal doses in chemistry class to conduct experiments."
Again and again spectacular and dangerous finds in Moosburg
A few years ago, two cases in which weapons were pulled out of the water during so-called magnetic fishing in the city area caused a stir in Moosburg. And it wasn't until January of this year that students discovered a pistol in the Amper near Moosburg - which also triggered a police operation.