Greek city to be shut down for removal of WWII bomb
THESSALONIKI, Greece — Authorities in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki distributed fliers and put up posters yesterday as part of preparations to evacuate about 75,000 people in order to defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb.
Bomb disposal experts are to tackle the device, found buried beneath a gas station, tomorrow in an operation expected to last about six hours.
All residents in a nearly 1.2mile radius are to be evacuated, starting at 7 a.m. tomorrow. 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 and about 1,000 police and 300 volunteers are expected to help out during the evacuation, Thessaloniki’s Deputy Governor Voula Patoulidou said.
Thessaloniki’s long-distance bus terminal, which is in the area, will shut down during the operation, and trains will also stop running to and from the city, as the main railway line passes through the exclusion zone. Traffic along a major road nearby will be halted, while churches in the area will not hold services.
Army spokesman Col. Nikos Fanios said the device’s exterior was too degraded to be able to determine whether it was a German or an Allied bomb.
During Sunday’s evacuation, residents will be transported by bus to schools, sports halls and cultural centers elsewhere in the city while the exclusion zone is cordoned off.
Army bomb disposal experts will initially attempt to defuse the bomb, and then transport the device to an army firing range, where they will determine what further steps to take, said Fanios, the army spokesman.