ZCZC
BFF-34
GERMANY-BOMB-EVACUATION-TRANSPORT
WWII bomb made safe in Germany city of Cologne
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Jan 21, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – German experts defused a World
War II bomb in Cologne on Tuesday that had forced the evacuation of thousands
of office workers and disrupted rail and ship traffic.
The 500-kilogramme (1,100-pound) US bomb — dropped during a heavy
bombardment of the western German city — “no longer poses a danger”, the
city said in a statement shortly before midday (1100 GMT).
Construction workers found the bomb on the right bank of the Rhine river on
Monday evening, prompting the evacuation of nearby offices including those of
broadcaster RTL and the Cologne Opera.
Very few people live in the area, which is primarily a business district.
“The roughly 10,000 employees of the affected companies and the 15
residents may return to their buildings,” said the city’s the statement.
The nearby Hohenzollern rail and pedestrian bridge, which leads to
Cologne’s famous Dom cathedral and central train station on the opposite
bank, was closed during the defusing efforts, severely disrupting rail
traffic.
After the bomb was deactivated in an operation that took less than an hour,
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn announced that the bridge had reopened, as
had Cologne’s smaller Messe/Deutz station.
The rail firm warned passengers to expect some knock-on effects from the
earlier delays and cancellations.
The airspace above the exclusion zone was also reopened and river traffic
was allowed to resume after a short interruption in one of the world’s
busiest waterways.
World War II bombs are regularly unearthed in Germany.
Earlier this month, some 14,000 people had to leave their homes in Dortmund
after two unexploded bombs were found in the city centre.
In 2017, the discovery of a 1.4-tonne bomb in Frankfurt prompted the
evacuation of 65,000 people — the largest such operation since the end of
the war in Europe in 1945.
BSS/AFP/SSS/2015 hrs