German police defuse WW II bomb after evacuating central Berlin

Thousands of people around Berlin's central railway station were evacuated on Friday to allow disposal experts to defuse an unexploded World War II bomb unearthed on a building site.

The bomb defusing team talks with media next to dismantled World War II bomb at a construction site near the central train station in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2018.
Reuters

The bomb defusing team talks with media next to dismantled World War II bomb at a construction site near the central train station in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2018.

Bomb disposal experts defused a World War II bomb in Berlin on Friday after evacuating an area in the heart of Berlin including the central train station, a hospital and the Economy Ministry.

The 500-kg British bomb was discovered during building work this week, more than seven decades after the end of World War II.

Reuters

A bomb defusing team pose next to a 500-kilogram World War II bomb near the main train station in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2018 in this handout photo posted by the Berlin Police on Twitter. Courtesy @polizeiberlin

Some 10,000 people – including residents, hospital patients and office workers – were evacuated at 9 am from buildings within an 800-metre radius of the bomb, while experts performed the delicate operation.

TRT World 's Ira Spitzer reports from Berlin. 

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Police posted a video on Twitter showing officers walking up the stairs in an apartment building with the caption, "We're not bringing room service or breakfast in bed but a personal wake-up call."

Reuters

A dismantled World War Two bomb is transported at a construction site next to the central train station in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2018.

They gave the all clear in the early afternoon and the city began getting back to normal.

Long-distance and local train transport at the central station was disrupted for several hours, but police said on Twitter that the station had now reopened. Bus and tram services also restarted.

The evacuation area included the Natural History Museum, the BND intelligence agency, a clinic of the Charite Hospital and an army hospital.

Reuters

Police block a road at the evacuation area while a World War Two bomb is defused near the central train station in Berlin, Germany, April 20, 2018.

Some roads were closed but were due to gradually reopen.

Germany still discovers more than 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions every year.

Last year some 60,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Frankfurt after a massive bomb dropped by Britain's Royal Air Force was unearthed.

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