Hundreds evacuated in Frankfurt so WWII bomb can be removed

250-kilogram device, discovered in Main River by divers last week, successfully defused underwater

By Agencies 14 April 2019, 4:49 pm

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A large water fountain rises behind the Iron Bridge when a 250 kilogram American bomb from World War II in the Main River is detonated with a blast in Frankfurt, Germany, April 14, 2019. (Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa via AP)

Some 600 people were evacuated from their homes in the old city of Frankfurt on Sunday so specialists could remove a World War II-era bomb that was discovered in the Main River.

The German news agency dpa reported the bomb was defused, as planned, underwater, which led to a loud detonation and a big water fountain on the river. Police told dpa “the bomb is no longer a danger.”

Firefighters had discovered the American 250-kilogram (550-pound) bomb during diving training in the river last Tuesday.

Even more than 70 years after the end of the war, bombs and other munitions still turn up regularly in Germany, a testament to the ferocity of the fighting in World War II.

In the biggest post-war evacuation to date, some 60,000 Frankfurt residents were evacuated in 2017 so that an unexploded 1.8-ton British bomb dubbed the “blockbuster” could be defused.

Last August, 18,500 people in the city of Ludwigshafen were evacuated to allow for the defusion of a 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) aerial bomb thought to have been dropped by American forces.