Germany: evacuation of more than 16,000 people by a World War II bomb

The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB), hospitals, the zoo and other Frankfurt buildings were evicted during an operation to defuse a bomb from World War II.

According to firefighters in this city, it is a 500-kilo bomb containing 45 kilograms of explosive material.

Among the buildings that had to be evacuated are a retirement home and several hospitals.

The zoo also had to close its doors to the public, for the first time since the end of the Second World War, reported the Efe agency.

It is estimated that the deactivation of the pump will take about four hours.

In total, the evacuated area includes one kilometer around the point where the bomb is located, near the ECB.

The evacuation concerns about 16,500 people, including 25 in induced coma.

The pump was found on a construction site.

This operation resulted in the interruption of some metro lines and the closure of several stations.

One more pump

Two weeks ago, around the German city of Ahlbach, a World War II bomb exploded in the west of the country without causing any casualties.

A spokesman for the German police said several witnesses heard a loud explosion on Sunday night, after which a crater was discovered in the area during the day.

Explosives specialists went to the site and, after examining the premises, determined that it was a bomb dating back to World War II.

On June 14, a bomb dropped by the US Air Force during the Second World War was discovered in the center of the German capital, Berlin, during construction.

The discovery of bombs dating from the last months of the war is common in Germany and often results in evacuations of population to ensure that the dismantling work is completed without casualties.