Bomb disposal experts have spent an hour disarming a British bomb after thousands were forced to evacuate.

Experts successfully defused the five-ton WWII bomb in Düsseldorf on Thursday after its discovery prompted the evacuation of 8,000 people. Authorities shut down a major motorway, air traffic from Düsseldorf airport as well as railway lines.

Construction workers discovered the British bomb on Wednesday in Düsseldorf-Rath. City administrators set up a one-kilometre safety cordon around the bomb.

One hour after experts went in, the local fire department announced the success, posting online “All clear! The bomb is defused, the closures are lifted.”

The city of Düsseldorf posted updates to residents on Twitter and warned residents “there is no guarantee that the bomb will not explode in the process (of defusal).”

Those evacuated included a hotel with 250 guests. The cordon also caused major traffic delays in the city.

A common find

Three WWII bombs were also causing headaches in the nearby town of Moers on Thursday morning. The scheduled defusal of one American bomb and two British bombs found on Monday caused the evacuation of more than 400 people and caused traffic delays.

The previous weekend authorities in the nearby town of Ahrweiler defused a 250-kilogram American bomb after about 3,600 evacuated the city.

The discovery of unexploded bombs left over from WWII is a frequent occurrence in Germany. On Christmas Day, 54,000 people were forced to evacuate the city of Augsburg following the discovery of a 1.8 metric ton British bomb.

Construction workers often unearth unexploded bombs in Germany and authorities are forced to act quickly.

UXO risks in the UK

With an estimated 10% of all munitions failing to explode, numerous ground intrusion and construction projects encounter UXO each year in the UK. If you’re looking for more information on UXO risk mitigation services explore our website or reach out to our team.

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