FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German authorities are making final preparations in Frankfurt before experts defuse a huge World War II-era bomb Sunday in an operation that includes evacuating more than 60,000 residents.

Hospital patients and the elderly are among those affected in what will be Germany’s biggest evacuation in recent history.

Construction workers found the 1.8-ton (4,000-pound) British bomb Tuesday. Officials have ordered residents to evacuate homes within a 1.5-kilometer (nearly a mile) radius of the site in Germany’s financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up before driving to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 500-kilogram U.S. bomb Saturday. </s> Police officers check if the residents have left the evacuation area in Frankfurt. Pic/AFP

German explosives experts started to defuse a massive World War Two bomb in Frankfurt on Sunday after tens of thousands of people evacuated their homes.

The bomb was discovered on a building site last week and around 60,000 people were ordered to leave their residences in what was Germany's biggest evacuation since the war.

The work by bomb technicians started later than planned as some people refused to leave the evacuation area despite fire chiefs warning that an uncontrolled explosion would be big enough to flatten a city block. More than a thousand emergency service workers helped to clear the area and people filed into a temporary shelter at Frankfurt's trade fair site.

The evacuation area includes Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, where $70 billion in gold reserves are stored. Police set up cordons around the evacuation area.

Defusing the bomb

Bomb disposal experts were set to use a special system to try and unscrew the fuses attached to the bomb from a safe distance. If that fails, a water jet will be used to cut the fuses.

2k

Tonnes of live bombs and munitions found each year in Germany </s> Bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge Second World War bomb in the German financial capital Frankfurt that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents, police said.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany's biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 1,100lb US bomb on Saturday.

Officials ordered residents to evacuate their homes within a mile radius of the site in Germany's financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone. </s> April 19 (UPI) -- Berlin is set to hold a large-scale evacuation Friday to allow experts to defuse a 1,100-pound World War II explosive.

Buildings within a 2,625-foot radius from the German construction site where the British bomb was found will be evacuated beginning 9 a.m. local time as a precaution.

The evacuation area includes government ministries, a hospital and the city's central train station.

Local bus and train routes will be disrupted during the operation, but the operator of Berlin's Tegel Airport said Friday's operations will proceed as scheduled.

"Good news: The originally coordinated Tegel flight plan for tomorrow can take place as planned," the airport said.

The discovery of bombs from World War II are a common occurrence in Germany and police said there is no immediate danger for people in the area from the bomb.

About 65,000 residents in Frankfurt were evacuated in September as experts successfully defused an unexploded bomb. </s> German authorities in Hanover are evacuating 50,000 residents, or about 10 percent of the city, so experts can safely diffuse five unexploded World War II bombs. The evacuation will begin Sunday, and is expected to be the second largest of its kind in Germany.

This evacuation has been planned for some time, and thousands of people from from nearby cities have come to assist. The government has even scheduled events like museum tours and move viewings to keep residents occupied while they’re a safe distance away from the city.

The bombs are leftover from an Allied forces mission in October 1943 that dropped more than 250,000 bombs in all. Seventy years later and unexploded ordnance from World War II is still a major problem throughout much of the country, especially because as bombs deteriorate they become more dangerous.

The largest bomb-related evacuation came on Christmas day last year, in Augsburg, when about 54,000 people were evacuated after a bomb was found at a construction site. In 2015, 20,000 people in Cologne were also evacuated because of a bomb. In Gottingen in 2010 a bomb exploded and killed three members of the bomb squad attempting to defuse it, and seriously injured two others.

This weekend, trains were rerouted, and others would not stop in Hanover. Hundreds of ambulances were brought into the city to help people leave the area. Within the evacuation zone was a tire plant, seven elderly homes, and a hospital. Residents are expected to be able to return home later in the evening. </s> Berlin: A large-scale evacuation is to take place in Berlin on Friday to allow experts to defuse a World War II bomb, police said.

The area to be cleared includes Berlin Hauptbahnhof — the central railway station, an army hospital, the economy and transport ministries and the embassies of Indonesia and Uzbekistan, the BBC quoted the German police as saying.

Rail company Deutsche Bahn and other transport operators have warned of large-scale disruption for trains, trams and buses in the area.

The police say there is no immediate danger from the 500 kg British bomb, which was found on Heidestrasse last Wednesday. The operation to defuse the device will take place around midday, the BBC said.

The buildings will be cleared from 9 am in an 800 metre radius from the construction site where the bomb was discovered.

Flights to and from Tegel airport — about 7 km away — will not be affected, authorities said on Thursday, although planes coming in to land will avoid flying over the site.

Thousands of unexploded bombs from the 1939-45 war are found every year.

Tegel, which is Berlin's busiest airport, was briefly closed in August 2017 after the discovery of a Russian World War II bomb. In September, patients at hospitals in Frankfurt were evacuated to allow the controlled explosion of another huge wartime bomb. </s> Police said bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge World War II-era bomb in the German financial capital Frankfurt that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany’s biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 500-kilogram US bomb on Saturday.

Construction workers found the 1.8-ton (4,000-pound) British bomb on Tuesday. Officials ordered residents to evacuate homes within a 1.5-kilometer (nearly a mile) radius of the site in Germany’s financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early on Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone. </s> German explosives experts defused a massive World War Two bomb in the financial capital of Frankfurt on Sunday after tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes.

The compulsory evacuation of 60,000 people was Germany's biggest such manoeuvre since the war, with more than a thousand emergency service workers helping to clear the area around the bomb, which was discovered on a building site last week.

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 all-day effort took longer than planned but officials expressed relief that residents would start returning home before sundown and that the operation wouldn't disrupt business on Monday.

The work by bomb technicians started later than scheduled because some residents refused to leave the evacuation area despite fire chiefs warning that an uncontrolled explosion would be big enough to flatten a city block. Police said they took stragglers into custody to secure the area.

More than 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions are discovered each year in Germany, more than 70 years after the end of the war.

British and American warplanes pummelled the country with 1.5 million tonnes of bombs that killed 600,000 people. Officials estimate that 15 per cent of the bombs failed to explode, some burrowing six metres (20 feet) deep.

Residents were instructed to leave their homes by 8 a.m. local time [0600 GMT], and more than a thousand emergency service workers helped to clear the area. Police set up cordons at a 1.5 km (roughly a mile) radius around the device.

Many residents left town. Others spent time in cafes on the edge of the evacuation zone. Museums were free, and many hotels offered discounts. The city set up a temporary shelter at Frankfurt's trade fair site, serving bananas and beverages.

The device was found last week in the city's leafy Westend neighbourhood, home to many wealthy bankers.

Premature babies and intensive care patients had to be evacuated along with everyone else from two hospitals and rescue workers helped about 500 elderly people leave residences and care homes.

Bomb disposal experts used a special system to try and unscrew the fuses attached to the HC 4,000 bomb from a safe distance. If that had failed, a water jet would have been used to cut the fuses.

The bomb was dropped by Britain's Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 war, city officials said.

In July, a kindergarten was evacuated after teachers discovered an unexploded World War Two bomb on a shelf among some toys.

Three police explosives experts in Goettingen were killed in 2010 while preparing to defuse a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb. </s> A large area in central Berlin is being evacuated by police, including the city’s main train station due an ongoing operation to defuse a 500-kg (1,100-pound) World War II bomb discovered during construction work.

 Police in the German capital said Wednesday that all buildings in an 800-meter (875-yard) radius around the site will have to be evacuated Friday morning as a precaution. Apart from the railway station, the area also includes a hospital run by the German military and the economy ministry.

The operation will affect long-distance and commuter rail services passing through Berlin’s main station from 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) onward.

 More than 70 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs are still being found during construction work in Germany, often requiring temporary evacuations.
Large portions of Frankfurt, Germany, are evacuated as local authorities work to defuse a bomb left over from a Royal Air Force raid during World War II. The evacuation is the largest to occur in Europe since World War II.