Thousands of residents in Germany were forced to leave their homes ahead of the scheduled disposal of a 550-pound World War II bomb discovered in Potsdam, a city just outside Berlin.
A Ghost Town in Potsdam
Around 6,500 people living in the affected area were ordered to evacuate by 8:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning. Emergency services personnel went door to door to verify that all residents had cleared out, according to a city spokesperson.
Train service at the city’s main railway station was suspended as a precaution.
A 700-meter exclusion zone was established around the American-made bomb, which was found during construction work in the city center.
Bomb disposal expert Mike Schwitske stated that he expected the operation to take between 30 minutes and one hour.
Over 80 Years After the End of WWII
The discovery of unexploded World War II ordnance in Germany is not uncommon, even more than eight decades after the war ended. Such bombs are typically unearthed during construction work and sometimes require large-scale evacuation operations.
