WWII bomb in Germany defused
60,000 people were evacuated from the area in case the ‘blockbuster’ exploded
FRANKFURT, Germany — Authorities defused a massive World War II bomb on Sunday, days after it was discovered at a construction site.
Frankfurt police indicated Sunday that the delicate process had been completed successfully.
Central Frankfurt looked like a ghost town after nearly 60,000 people were evacuated, forced to leave their homes ahead of the defusing operation.
The bomb was found during work last week close to the Goethe University Frankfurt compound, police said.
According to the BBC, the German government has a specialized department that loses 10 to 15 people a year defusing bombs, several German civilians die annually from old World War II bombs, and thousands and thousands of tons of unexploded bombs remain.
The problem has been ongoing since the end of the war.
German authorities have calculated that around 15 percent of the bombs dropped during World War II failed to explode, and more than 2,000 tons of unexploded weaponry are found each year.
In the rush to rebuild after the war, Germans often just buried the munitions, so many of them are turning up only now.
Experts say the bombs are just as dangerous as they were seven decades ago, even though the Germans are experienced at dealing with unexploded devices. Three explosives experts were killed in Goettingen in 2010 while preparing to defuse a much smaller bomb.
The device was a British bomb, specifically a 1.4-ton HC 4000 air mine, police said. It was put under police guard ahead of Sunday’s operation to keep the area safe.
Police said the size of the bomb made extensive evacuation measures a necessary precaution. The process — which took about four hours to complete — began after police removed additional Frankfurt residents who had yet to leave the evacuation zone.
The evacuation area included two hospitals, care homes, the Opera House, and Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, where $70 billion in gold reserves are stored underground.
Police maintained security at the building.
The Frankfurt fire brigade indicated that 1,100 relief workers and firefighters had been deployed for the operation.
“The scale of this bomb is overwhelming. I have never seen anything like it,” Fire Brigade director Reinhard Ries said.
Police had the authority to forcibly remove residents from their homes. The fire brigade said that streets would be patrolled with the assistance of helicopters to ensure that no one had been left behind and that homes were secure.
Those who evacuated on foot or by bicycle were allowed to head back to their homes, authorities said. But residents who drove couldn’t return until patients who were evacuated from two area hospitals had made it back.
World War II ended more than 70 years ago, but its legacy still lingers in cities across Germany.
According to the BBC, the old munitions problem is worse in certain parts of Germany.
Oranienburg, just outside Berlin, has the dubious distinction of being the “most dangerous town in Germany.” Under Adolf Hitler, it contained an armaments hub, aircraft plant, railway junction, and a nuclear research facility — so it was a key target for the Allies, who gave it an aerial pounding.
Almost 200 bombs have been defused in the town since the end of the war. But with experts estimating that up to 400 bombs remain buried, the task is far from complete.
The bomb found in Frankfurt was one of several types of large British munitions that became known as a “blockbuster,” owing to its sheer explosive force, which was often enough to destroy entire streets.
Other World War II bombs recently discovered in Germany include:
May, 2017: 50,000 people were evacuated from Hannover while three Britishmade bombs were defused.
December, 2016: More than 50,000 evacuated in Augsburg over 1.8-ton British explosive.
May, 2015: 20,000 people in Cologne forced to leave their homes after a one-ton bomb was discovered.
December, 2011: 45,000 people were evacuated from Koblenz, half the total population, after two bombs were found in the riverbed of the Rhine.