MADRID: Spain and the United States have agreed to discuss further cleaning up and removing land contaminated with radioactivity after a mid-air collision in 1966 dumped four US hydrogen bombs near the southern Spanish village of Palomares.

Under a statement of intent signed on Monday by Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo and US Secretary of State John Kerry, the two countries will negotiate a binding agreement to further restore and clear up the Palomares site and arrange for the disposal of the contaminated soil at an appropriate site in the United States.

The bombs were released on Jan 17, 1966, when during a routine refuelling operation a US B-52 bomber and a refueling plane crashed into each other, killing seven of 11 crew members.

Published in Dawn, October 20th , 2015

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