World War II bombs defused in German city's biggest post-war evacuation
Three unexploded US bombs from World War II were defused on Wednesday in Cologne after the German city's biggest evacuation since the end of the war.
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More than 20,000 residents were evacuated from the city centre earlier Wednesday after the bombs were unearthed on Monday during preparatory work for road construction.
Experts defused the bombs within about an hour, city authorities said in a statement.
Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime air raids are frequently found in Germany. Sometimes, large-scale precautionary evacuations are needed. The location this time was unusually prominent – just across the Rhine River from Cologne's historic centre.
A cordoned off area near the Cologne Cathedral. Photo: Reuters TV
The evacuations included homes, 58 hotels, nine schools, a hospital and two nursing homes, several museums and office buildings and the Messe/Deutz railway station.
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