Latvia: Phosphorus from Soviet Era Burns Tourists

By Larry Habegger | Permalink | No Comments | July 4th, 2006 | Trackback

One of the odder remnants of the Cold War victimized a German couple recently when they were beachcombing near Bernati in the southern county of Liepaja. They picked up what they thought was amber only to have it spontaneously combust, burning the man’s fingers and the woman’s thigh. Such “false amber” is actually phosphorus, a highly combustible chemical that washes up on the beaches here occasionally following storms or strong winds. It ignites when warmed or handled. Incidents like this happen here every year, in part because warnings about the phosphorus are posted in the city, not at the beach. The phosphorus is believed to have come from an explosion at sea during the Soviet era.

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