Technicians worked for hours Sunday to successfully defuse a World War II-era bomb that had been lying dormant under the bustling streets of Frankfurt for some seven decades.The 4,000 pound bomb was discovered Tuesday at a construction site for Goethe University faculty buildings, reports The New York Times. It is believed to have been dropped by the British Royal Air Force.Everybody within a mile radius of the bomb had to leave Sunday morning, leading to an evacuation of more than 60,000 people.The BBC says it was the largest evacuation in Germany since the end of World War II. Experts warned that if the bomb accidentally went off, it would be powerful enough to flatten an entire street.There were no exceptions to the rule: everybody had to clear out, including those inside hospitals, nursing homes and Germany's central bank.Premature babies and ICU patients were among those who got out, says the BBC.For those who opted not to go far, the city opened its convention center and museums offered free entry.Police used a heat-sensitive camera to ensure nobody remained before experts went to work defusing the 2-ton bomb, reports The Times.It was a job that has been done many times over; on average about 2,000 tons of unexploded ordnance are found every year across the country, reports the BBC. Every couple of weeks, Germany's bomb-disposal unit disables a bomb and says the work should last for years to come.There are believed to still be hundreds of thousands of unexploded bombs dropped during WW II remaining throughout Germany.The Two-Way reported in May that 50,000 people had to evacuate the German city of Hanover while experts defused three British bombs.
Bomb Successfully Defused Following 'Largest' Evacuation Of Post-World War II Germany
