The video shows the destruction of a massive World War II anti-ship mine in Croatia

Croatian authorities on Sunday destroyed a huge World War II anti-ship mine buried in the seabed near a key port on the northern Adriatic. Video released by Croatia’s Interior Ministry showed the massive blast shooting water hundreds of meters into the air.

Local authorities in the port of Rijeka sounded emergency sirens early Sunday to mark the start of the operation. They had previously evacuated parts of the city while halting all traffic to secure the area with 1,500 pounds of explosives during the bomb’s removal.

Officials said the mine, first discovered last June, was positioned too close to the city and needed to be moved farther before emergency response teams could perform the controlled detonation.

Videos released by Croatian police after the operation concluded on Sunday showed the mine on the seabed and divers strapping it down so it could be moved. Another video showed a huge explosion farther away, hurling seawater high into the air.

Police officer Nenad Krasny said the mine was very dangerous and contained huge amounts of explosives. He added that 24 people were involved in the operation and that great care was taken to remove the mine from the port “because anything else would be too dangerous for citizens and infrastructure”.

Officials said the effort was being led by the Civil Defense Headquarters in Rijeka in cooperation with police and other authorities.

The blast came about a month after a World War II bomb found detonated in Great Yarmouth, England “unplanned” detonation.