BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Construction workers on Tuesday discovered a World War II-era, 1,000-pound bomb at a site near a west-central Florida regional airport, authorities said.
According to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, the inert military bomb was found near the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport at around 3 p.m. EST.
The workers discovered the “rusted and decayed” explosive near the construction site of Wilton Simpson Technical College in Brooksville, Sheriff Al Nienhuis said in a video posted on Facebook.
“They found what was believed to be a World War II era, 1,000-pound bomb,” Nienhuis said in the video.
Officials said the explosive was believed to be a “very old Mark 65″ bomb, WFTS-TV reported.
A bomb squad called in from neighboring Citrus County determined that the bomb was inert, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
[ Inert military-grade rocket found in man’s garage in Washington, police say ]
Nienhuis said that a team from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa would help dispose of the bomb, according to the newspaper.
The sheriff added that an area about a half-mile around the site was evacuated.
As of 6 p.m. EST, all roads had been reopened, the Times reported.