Up to 54,000 people are being evacuated from the German city of Augsburg on Christmas morning after the discovery of an unexploded RAF bomb.
Some 32,000 homes are in the evacuation zone, which was declared following the discovery of the huge unexploded second world war ordnance.
The evacuation is the single largest evacuation operation in Germany since the end of the war.
German city evacuated after discovery of unexploded RAF bomb
Some 32,000 households in Augsburg ordered to leave while 1.8-tonne second world war-era bomb is defused
Associated Press in Frankfurt
Sunday 25 December 2016
The Guardian
Up to 54,000 people are being evacuated from the German city of Augsburg on Christmas morning after the discovery of an unexploded RAF bomb.
Some 32,000 homes are in the evacuation zone, which was declared following the discovery of the huge unexploded second world war ordnance.
The evacuation is the single largest evacuation operation in Germany since the end of the war.
The bomb was uncovered last week during construction work in the city’s historic central district. Police said Christmas Day was the best time to defuse it because there was less traffic and it was more likely people could stay with relatives.
The evacuation began at around 8am local time on Christmas Day. The process involved up to 900 police officers and involved police vans with loudspeakers urging those affected to leave before the 10am deadline.
The evacuation area included the city’s Augsburger Vincentinum hospital, where patients were transferred to other hospitals. Christmas morning services at the city’s medieval cathedral, famed for its boys’ choir, were also moved to another church.
Schools and sports facilities were opened as shelters. Police would not say how long the bomb’s deactivation could take.
Germans prepare to defuse massive RAF bomb on the Rhine: Sandbags frame a 1.8 ton
The bomb, known as a Blockbuster, was the largest of its kind dropped by the RAF during aerial attacks on Germany in the second world war. It weighs 1.8 tonnes and, if exploded, could damage all buildings within a one mile radius.
According to local reports, the process of disarming the bomb could last well into the evening, forcing thousands of families to make alternate arrangements for Christmas or spend the night in makeshift shelters.
Augsburg was targeted in raids by the Allied forces in February 1944. Large parts of the city were destroyed during attacks by hundreds of RAF and US fighters.
Unexploded ordnance is still found across Europe, with communities in the UK, France, Germany and beyond occasionally facing evacuation when bombs are discovered.
In 2011, 45,000 people were evacuated temporarily to remove a bomb in Koblenz, central Germany. In February this year, the discovery over another unexploded second world war bomb in Victoria station, central London, forced the evacuation of the area. In May, a device was found under a school playground in in Bath, forcing hundreds of people to spend the night in a shelter set up at the city’s racecourse.
Deadly: 'Blockbuster' bombs were used heavily by the RAF in the war
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ny-evacuated-unexploded-second-world-war-bomb
Some 32,000 homes are in the evacuation zone, which was declared following the discovery of the huge unexploded second world war ordnance.
The evacuation is the single largest evacuation operation in Germany since the end of the war.
German city evacuated after discovery of unexploded RAF bomb
Some 32,000 households in Augsburg ordered to leave while 1.8-tonne second world war-era bomb is defused
Associated Press in Frankfurt
Sunday 25 December 2016
The Guardian
Up to 54,000 people are being evacuated from the German city of Augsburg on Christmas morning after the discovery of an unexploded RAF bomb.
Some 32,000 homes are in the evacuation zone, which was declared following the discovery of the huge unexploded second world war ordnance.
The evacuation is the single largest evacuation operation in Germany since the end of the war.
The bomb was uncovered last week during construction work in the city’s historic central district. Police said Christmas Day was the best time to defuse it because there was less traffic and it was more likely people could stay with relatives.
The evacuation began at around 8am local time on Christmas Day. The process involved up to 900 police officers and involved police vans with loudspeakers urging those affected to leave before the 10am deadline.
The evacuation area included the city’s Augsburger Vincentinum hospital, where patients were transferred to other hospitals. Christmas morning services at the city’s medieval cathedral, famed for its boys’ choir, were also moved to another church.
Schools and sports facilities were opened as shelters. Police would not say how long the bomb’s deactivation could take.
Germans prepare to defuse massive RAF bomb on the Rhine: Sandbags frame a 1.8 ton
The bomb, known as a Blockbuster, was the largest of its kind dropped by the RAF during aerial attacks on Germany in the second world war. It weighs 1.8 tonnes and, if exploded, could damage all buildings within a one mile radius.
According to local reports, the process of disarming the bomb could last well into the evening, forcing thousands of families to make alternate arrangements for Christmas or spend the night in makeshift shelters.
Augsburg was targeted in raids by the Allied forces in February 1944. Large parts of the city were destroyed during attacks by hundreds of RAF and US fighters.
Unexploded ordnance is still found across Europe, with communities in the UK, France, Germany and beyond occasionally facing evacuation when bombs are discovered.
In 2011, 45,000 people were evacuated temporarily to remove a bomb in Koblenz, central Germany. In February this year, the discovery over another unexploded second world war bomb in Victoria station, central London, forced the evacuation of the area. In May, a device was found under a school playground in in Bath, forcing hundreds of people to spend the night in a shelter set up at the city’s racecourse.
Deadly: 'Blockbuster' bombs were used heavily by the RAF in the war
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ny-evacuated-unexploded-second-world-war-bomb
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