WWII bombs defused in German city after 45,000 evacuate

WWII bombs defused in German city after 45,000 evacuate

2011-12-06 06:15:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

KOBLENZ, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- Bomb disposal experts successfully defused two World War II bombs lying on the bottom of the Rhine River in Germany on Sunday, the dpa news agency reported on Monday.

Almost half the city's population - 45,000 people - were evacuated in the city of Koblenz, including prisoners from a jail. Some 1,000 officials went from house to house to check that everyone was gone from the evacuated area, leaving only pets behind.

Most of those who were forced to evacuate moved to the homes of relatives, but seven schools in the suburbs were opened as shelters. Only around 300 people reportedly made use of them, dpa reported.

The bigger of the two bombs weighed 1.8 tons (3,600 pounds) and was recently spotted when the water level sank in the Rhine, while a smaller U.S. bomb was subsequently found nearby. A smokescreen canister located near the explosives was safely detonated during Sunday's operation.

Hundreds of sandbags were dumped around the bombs and water was pumped out from the surrounding area. The site needed to be dry so that bomb disposal experts could defuse the explosives, which succeeded as planned.

Koblenz, which is located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in the country's western region, was heavily bombed from the air by the Allies during the war because it was a major transport junction and had main army bases.

This weekend's evacuation marked the largest post-war evacuation in Germany. The previous largest post-war evacuation took place in the Rhine town of Ludwigshafen in 1997 when around 2,500 people were evacuated after an unexploded bomb was found.

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