26,000 Evacuated so WWII Bomb Can Be Defused
Authorities cleared 26,000 people from this Rhine River town Sunday in Germany’s biggest evacuation over a leftover World War II bomb.
Three munitions experts defused the 2.2-ton British bomb in 1 1/2 hours, their work slowed by the detonator’s corrosion.
More than 1,000 police officers, firefighters and volunteers cleared residents--including dozens of hospital patients--from a 1.1-mile radius around the field where the bomb was discovered. Two children and a drunken man lingering in the area were sent on their way.
Officials ordered planes to bypass the area, and told operators of river barges and trains to stay put.
Germany discovered the bomb through recently declassified U.S. reconnaissance photos.
Its location was pinpointed Thursday--9 feet underground in a field in Ludwigshafen. The defusing was scheduled for Sunday to minimize disruption to commerce in this factory town of 168,000.
Unexploded wartime bombs are often found in Germany, especially by construction crews in the former East Germany.
Last Monday, police evacuated 10,000 people from the northern town of Oranienburg to defuse a bomb found at a construction site.
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