03 September, 2017
On Sunday, a 1.8-ton HC 4000 bomb packed with 1300 kilograms of explosives will be defused in the densely populated upmarket Westend neighbourhood in Frankfurt. In Koblenz, about 21,000 were displaced from homes, a prison, and a hospital as specialists defused a 1,100-pound U.S. bomb Saturday.
More than 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions are found each year in Germany, even under buildings. "It's not just fragments that are the problem, but also the pressure that it creates that would dismantle all the buildings in a 100m radius". Such finds are not unusual, but rarely are the unexploded bombs so large and in such a sensitive position.
Among those moved to safety were prison inmates and hospital patients.
Frankfurt's residents have to clear the area by 8am local time today.
About 21,000 left Koblenz where first bomb was defused as 60,000 are preparing to leave Frankfurt for the bigger one. In July, a kindergarten was evacuated after teachers discovered an unexploded World War II bomb on a shelf among some toys.
The compulsory evacuation radius of 1.5km around the bomb includes the police headquarters, two hospitals, transport systems and Germany's central bank storing US$70 billion (S$95 billion) in gold reserves.
Air traffic from Frankfurt airport could also be affected if there is an easterly wind on Sunday, air traffic control told Reuters on Friday. Officials said they would deploy a helicopter with thermal imaging equipment to determine if anyone in the evacuation zone attempted to stay behind.
Officials said they would open the city's convention center and a fairground as overnight shelters for those with nowhere else to go. Museums and other cultural institutions said they would offer free admission and keep longer hours to give displaced residents something to do over the weekend after being forced out of their homes.
