国际英语新闻:Large ice congestion in Latvia river blown up to avert floods

RIGA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Latvian armed forces on Thursday blew up a huge ice congestion in one of the Baltic country's largest rivers that had threatened to cause major floods in the area.

The ice blasting operation was announced after the ice jam near the central Latvian municipality of Carnikava caused water levels in the River Gauja to rise dangerously this week.

On Wednesday, the swelling river had already inundated nearby meadows and some local residents reported that it had flooded their garages.

Lieutenant Colonel Edmunds Svencs said on public radio Thursday that soldiers drilled around 200 holes in the ice and placed a kilogram of explosives in each hole.

At around 3 p.m., ice started to move in the river, with the sludge floating right towards the explosives. "The preparation works were finished. As we were told that the ice was moving, we decided to detonate the explosives 7-8 minutes earlier than planned to make way for the approaching sludge," Svencs said.

The ice jam was blown up successfully, and by 6 p.m. the stream was running freely, according to Carnikava authorities.