Huge Second World War bomb safely defused after 60,000 forced to flee homes in Frankfurt

Tens of thousands of people evacuated their homes in Frankfurt, Germany
REUTERS
Tom Powell4 September 2017

Bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge Second World War bomb that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents in Frankfurt.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany's biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 1,100lb US bomb on Saturday.

Construction workers found the 4,000lb British bomb on Tuesday.

The area where a British bomb was found
REUTERS

Officials ordered residents to evacuate their homes within a mile radius of the site in Germany's financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.

The bomb - the type dropped by British bombers during the war - contained 1.4 tonnes of explosives, city councillor Markus Frank said.

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