Tens of thousands evacuated after huge wartime bomb found in German city

2011-10-28 06:28:18 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN (BNO NEWS) -- German authorities on Thursday evacuated more than 20,000 people after an unexploded World War II bomb was discovered in the city of Halle, officials said.

The unexploded 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) wartime bomb was discovered by a man digging a ditch. At least 20,000 people, including all 500 patients at a local hospital, were forced to evacuate the area, the German dpa news agency reported.

Local police chief Bernd Wiegand said everyone within a radius of 800 meters (0.5 mile) was ordered to evacuate. Six schools and the city's hospital had to close as a result.

Relatives rushed to the city to pick up elderly parents from rest homes. Meanwhile, hospital and ambulances moved out 17 prematurely born babies who had been in 24-hour care at the hospital, according to dpa.

The detonators of many unexploded bombs dropped on Germany by the British and United States air forces 70 years ago have rusted away. However, disposal teams said the device found in the center of the city of Halle was still very dangerous.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-10-28

lucky it was just man with a shovel, and not a mechanical digger, doing this job.

One nonsensical post and a reply to it have been deleted.

Literally impossible to explode,really.What a crock.

I was stationed in Okinawa in '72-'73 and there was far more unexploded ordinance and no issues.And still many more to be discovered.

lucky it was just man with a shovel, and not a mechanical digger, doing this job.

"At least 20,000 people, including all 500 patients at a local hospital, were forced to evacuate the area, the German dpa news agency reported."

.They should give the old bombs back to their owners........

Edited October 28, 201114 yr by sirchai

Literally impossible to explode,really.What a crock.

I was stationed in Okinawa in '72-'73 and there was far more unexploded ordinance and no issues.And still many more to be discovered.

that are

I disagree, there is still unexploded shells from WW1 still extremely dangerous in Europe and elsewhere.

Off topic comment deleted to rpevent the topic going off course - mario2008

Literally impossible to explode,really.What a crock.

I was stationed in Okinawa in '72-'73 and there was far more unexploded ordinance and no issues.And still many more to be discovered.

We now live in the age of sueing each other for the slightest reason in order to get rich. If the authorities didn't evacuate people, they would be sued by thousands of people. At least now they're covered legally.

lucky it was just man with a shovel, and not a mechanical digger, doing this job.

"At least 20,000 people, including all 500 patients at a local hospital, were forced to evacuate the area, the German dpa news agency reported."

.They should give the old bombs back to their owners........

Quite agree if that would apply to all nations (land mines in particular)

lucky it was just man with a shovel, and not a mechanical digger, doing this job.

"At least 20,000 people, including all 500 patients at a local hospital, were forced to evacuate the area, the German dpa news agency reported."

.They should give the old bombs back to their owners........

They were sent as gifts so the Germans now own them.

lucky it was just man with a shovel, and not a mechanical digger, doing this job.

"At least 20,000 people, including all 500 patients at a local hospital, were forced to evacuate the area, the German dpa news agency reported."

.They should give the old bombs back to their owners........

They were sent as gifts so the Germans now own them.

hehe. you have the same weird sense of humour as I.

For the knowledgeable ones who are saying there is no issue with this bomb, please see this extract from Wikipedia. It isn't the first 1.,100 pounder they have found in Germany and also the reason why they have to treat the munitions as a potentially LIVE piece of ordnance.

Although professional EOD personnel have expert knowledge, skills and equipment, they are not immune to misfortune because of the inherent dangers: in June 2010, construction workers in Göttingen, Germany discovered an Allied 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) bomb dating from World War II buried approximately 7 metres (23 ft) below the ground. German EOD experts were notified and attended the scene. Whilst residents living nearby were being evacuated and the EOD personnel were preparing to disarm the bomb, it detonated, killing three of them and injuring 6 others. The dead and injured each had over 20 years of hands-on experience, and had previously rendered safe between 600 and 700 unexploded bombs. The bomb which killed and injured the EOD personnel was of a particularly dangerous type because it was fitted with a delayed-action chemical fuze, which had become highly unstable after over 65 years underground

Edited October 28, 201114 yr by Garry

For the knowledgeable ones who are saying there is no issue with this bomb, please see this extract from Wikipedia. It isn't the first 1.,100 pounder they have found in Germany and also the reason why they have to treat the munitions as a potentially LIVE piece of ordnance.

Although professional EOD personnel have expert knowledge, skills and equipment, they are not immune to misfortune because of the inherent dangers: in June 2010, construction workers in Göttingen, Germany discovered an Allied 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) bomb dating from World War II buried approximately 7 metres (23 ft) below the ground. German EOD experts were notified and attended the scene. Whilst residents living nearby were being evacuated and the EOD personnel were preparing to disarm the bomb, it detonated, killing three of them and injuring 6 others. The dead and injured each had over 20 years of hands-on experience, and had previously rendered safe between 600 and 700 unexploded bombs. The bomb which killed and injured the EOD personnel was of a particularly dangerous type because it was fitted with a delayed-action chemical fuze, which had become highly unstable after over 65 years underground

all unexploded ordnance should be treated as a serious threat.

For the knowledgeable ones who are saying there is no issue with this bomb, please see this extract from Wikipedia. It isn't the first 1.,100 pounder they have found in Germany and also the reason why they have to treat the munitions as a potentially LIVE piece of ordnance.

Although professional EOD personnel have expert knowledge, skills and equipment, they are not immune to misfortune because of the inherent dangers: in June 2010, construction workers in Göttingen, Germany discovered an Allied 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) bomb dating from World War II buried approximately 7 metres (23 ft) below the ground. German EOD experts were notified and attended the scene. Whilst residents living nearby were being evacuated and the EOD personnel were preparing to disarm the bomb, it detonated, killing three of them and injuring 6 others. The dead and injured each had over 20 years of hands-on experience, and had previously rendered safe between 600 and 700 unexploded bombs. The bomb which killed and injured the EOD personnel was of a particularly dangerous type because it was fitted with a delayed-action chemical fuze, which had become highly unstable after over 65 years underground

all unexploded ordnance should be treated as a serious threat.

Totally agree with you TG , otherwise 'the pink mist' scenario comes to mind

Would be nice if the USA did something more about all their mines and unexploded ordnance they dropped in SE Asia.

They are not doing much.