ROME (AP) — Italian bomb experts have moved to the sea for safe detonation a 500-pound (225-kilo) British bomb from World War II, accidentally dug up in an Adriatic town.

Some 23,000 people in Fano were evacuated Tuesday night as a precaution while the bomb was transported to sea. The bomb was accidentally dug up during excavation work.

Italian army bomb experts said Wednesday that the bomb will be detonated at sea after a 144-hour wait, the maximum time required to see if the device explodes on its own if its time-delayed trigger was accidentally activated during the excavation.

The army said the Italian navy took the bomb out to an area in the Adriatic outside navigation routes.

The accidental unearthing of Allied bombs is an occasional event in Italy.