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Berlin WWII bomb sparks mass evacuation

The area to be cleared includes Berlin Hauptbahnhof — the central railway station — an army hospital, the economy and transport ministries and the embassies of Indonesia and Uzbekistan. Police say there is no immediate danger from the 500 kg British bomb found last Wednesday

Berlin WWII bomb sparks mass evacuation

A file photo of Berlin's Hauptbahnhof main railway station. (Photo: AFP)

A large-scale evacuation is to take place in Berlin on Friday to allow experts to defuse a WWII bomb, police said.

The area to be cleared includes Berlin Hauptbahnhof — the central railway station, an army hospital, the economy and transport ministries and the embassies of Indonesia and Uzbekistan, the BBC quoted the German police as saying.

Rail company Deutsche Bahn and other transport operators have warned of large-scale disruption for trains, trams and buses in the area.

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The police say there is no immediate danger from the 500 kg British bomb, which was found on Heidestrasse last Wednesday. The operation to defuse the device will take place around midday, the BBC said.

The buildings will be cleared from 9 a.m. in an 800m radius from the construction site where the bomb was discovered.

Flights to and from Tegel airport — about 7km away — will not be affected, authorities said on Thursday, although planes coming in to land will avoid flying over the site.

Thousands of unexploded bombs from the 1939-45 war are found every year.

Tegel, which is Berlin’s busiest airport, was briefly closed in August 2017 after the discovery of a Russian World War II bomb. In September, patients at hospitals in Frankfurt were evacuated to allow the controlled explosion of another huge wartime bomb.

WWII bombs discovered in Germany in the past

May 2017: Nearly 50,000 people were evacuated from Hannover when three British-made bombs were defused

December 2016: More than 50,000 evacuated in Augsburg as a 1.8-tonne explosive had to be defused

May 2015: Nearly 20,000 people were evacuated in Cologne after a 1-tonne WWII bomb was found

January 2012: A construction worker died in Euskirchen when his digger hit an unexploded bomb

December 2011: Nearly 45,000 people were forced to leave Koblenz  after two bombs were discovered in the Rhine riverbed

June 2010: Three members of a bomb disposal squad died while defusing a bomb found in Göttingen

(With IANS)

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