World War II bombs spark large-scale evacuation in Cologne

Bomb squad technicians defused the three American explosives which were found during building work.

One of the three unexploded bombs from World War II is fenced off with screens as specialists prepare to defuse them in Cologne. Picture: Thomas Banneyer/dpa via AP

More than 20,000 people were being evacuated from central Cologne after three unexploded World War II bombs were found, the biggest such operation in the German city since the end of the war.

Bomb squad technicians defused the three American explosives, two weighing 1000kg and one 500kg, which were found during building work Monday in the Deutz area on the east bank of the River Rhine.

Road and train lines were closed and city officials were going door to door to clear the evacuation zone of about 10,000 square metres which included three bridges over the Rhine.

As well as homes, the area includes 58 hotels, nine schools, several museums and office buildings and the Messe/Deutz train station.

Ambulances drive to the Eduardus Hospital in Cologne-Deutz to evacuate the hospital before specialists defuse three unexploded US bombs from World War II. Picture: Henning Kaiser/dpa via AP

The heart of the city was left deserted, with a hospital, two old people’s homes, nine schools, a TV studio and dozens of hotels affected.

Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime air raids are frequently found in Germany.

Disposing of them sometimes entails large-scale precautionary evacuations such as the one on Wednesday, (Thursday AEST) though the location this time was unusually prominent and this is Cologne’s biggest evacuation since 1945.

There have been bigger evacuations in other cities.

In Frankfurt, the discovery of a 1.4-tonne bomb in 2017 led to the removal of 65,000 people, the biggest such evacuation in Europe since 1945.

In 2021 four people were injured when a World War II bomb exploded at a building site near Munich’s main railway station, scattering debris over hundreds of metres.

AFP, AP