Thousands to be evacuated after bomb uncovered

Authorities in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki are distributing flyers and putting up posters as part of preparations to evacuate about 75,000 people in order to defuse a large unexploded World War II bomb.

Bomb disposal experts are to tackle the 225-kilogram device, found buried beneath a petrol station, tonight in an operation expected to last about six hours. All residents in a nearly two-kilometre radius are to be evacuated. Authorities will also evacuate a nearby refugee camp with about 450 residents.

The bomb, dropped during an air raid on the city in the 1940s, was found last week during work to expand fuel storage tanks.

A state of emergency has been declared in the three municipalities involved. About 1000 police and 300 volunteers were expected to help during the evacuation, Thessaloniki’s Deputy Governor Voula Patoulidou said.

‘‘We will go door everyone leaves.’’

Army spokesman Colonel Nikos Fanios said the device’s exterior was too degraded to be able to determine whether it was a German or an Allied bomb. to door to make sure

But resident Giorgos Gerasimou, 86, whose home is 800 metres from where the bomb was found, said it was dropped by Allied planes targeting German rail facilities in September 1944. Nazi Germany occupied Greece from 1941 until October 1944.

Residents will be transported by bus to schools, sports halls and cultural centres elsewhere in the city while the exclusion zone is cordoned off.