German authorities have conducted one of the largest bomb disposal operations since World War II. Bomb-disposal experts have defused three bombs discovered at a construction site.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
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More than 50,000 residents in the northwestern German city of Hanover were evacuated from their homes on Sunday –about 10 percent of the city's entire population – as three unexploded bombs from World War II were removed from a construction site in the town's center.
Officials had initially suspected that two more bombs were buried beneath a nearby park, but a search on Sunday turned up nothing.
By 6pm local time (1600 UTC), residents were allowed to return to their homes.
Unexploded ordnance in Germany - a legacy of the Allied Forces
Over 50,000 people were evacuated from the northern city of Hanover in May 2017, so that bombs from World War II could be defused. Even 72 years after the war ended, unexploded bombs are still found across the country.
Image: picture-alliance/AP/U.S. Strategic Air Forces
What is unexploded ordnance?
Unexploded ordnance (UXO or sometimes also abbreviated to UO), unexploded bombs (UXBs), or explosive remnants of war (ERW) are explosive weapons such as bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines and cluster munitions that did not explode when they were deployed. Unexploded ordnance still poses the risk of detonation, even decades after they were used or discarded.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Grundmann
Why does Germany have a bomb problem?
Between 1940 and 1945, US and British forces dropped 2.7 million tons of bombs on Europe. Half of those bombs targeted Germany. Experts estimate that close to a quarter of a million bombs did not explode due to technical faults. Thousands of these bombs are still hidden underground, sometimes a few meters down and sometimes just below the surface.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection
How big is the issue?
The industrial Ruhr area and the Lower Rhine region were heavily bombed, as were the cities of Dresden, Hamburg and Hanover. So this is where most of the unexploded ordnance is found. Bombs are usually unearthed during construction work or are discovered during the examination of historical aerial images. Experts say it could still take decades to clear all of the remaining unexploded ordnance.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
What happens when an unexploded bomb is found?
When confronted with the discovery of an UXO, UO or a UXB, bomb disposal experts have to decide whether to defuse it or to carry out a controlled explosion. Many have lost their lives on the job. German authorities are under pressure to remove unexploded ordnance from populated areas. Experts argue that the bombs are becoming more dangerous as time goes by due to material fatigue.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Puchner
How many bomb disposal experts have died?
Eleven bomb technicians have been killed in Germany since 2000, including three who died in a single explosion while trying to defuse a 1,000-pound bomb on the site of a popular flea market in Göttingen in 2010.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Zucchi
Which was the biggest evacuation?
A 1.8-ton bomb dropped by Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) was found in the city center of Augsburg on December 20, 2016. The find prompted a large-scale bomb disposal operation and consequently the evacuation of over 54,000 people on December 25. To date, this remains the biggest evacuation for the removal of World War II unexploded ordnance in Germany.
Image: Markus Siefer
What’s the latest?
Authorities conducted another big bomb disposal operation in May 2017, with 50,000 residents in the northwestern city of Hanover forced to evacuate their homes. Thirteen unexploded ordnances from the 1940s were removed. Hanover was a frequent target of Allied bombing in the latter years of the war. On October 9, 1943, some 261,000 bombs were dropped on the city.
Image: Getty Images/A. Koerner
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There was a brief scare Sunday when bomb-disposal experts struggled to defuse one of the bombs manually due to its damaged fuse. A water jet cutter was brought in and used to open up the bomb and defuse it.
On October 9, 1943, some 261,000 bombs were dropped on the city by Allied forces, with many unexploded bombs still assumed to be scattered across the country.
Seventy years after the end of World War II, such finds and evacuations are not uncommon in Germany. Authorities are under pressure to remove unexploded ordnance from populated areas, as the bombs become more dangerous with the passing of time due to material fatigue.
World War II bomb recoveries and the necessary evacuations are not uncommon in Germany.Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Free cultural program to entertain evacuees
The evacuation process started on Friday evening with seven care home residents and hospital patients being the first to be removed from the area.
Most other people living in the densely populated suburb began leaving their homes on Saturday morning. The city of Hanover prepared a series of events at museums, theaters and other public venues for evacuees to pass the time during the disposal operation. The area in question is located to the north of Hanover's city center, according to the local "Hannoversche Allgemeine" newspaper.
The record-breaker preceded the current operation by merely a few months, when on Christmas Day last year, 54,000 people in the southern German city of Augsburg were similarly evacuated from their homes.
Three members of a bomb disposal squad were killed in the north-central German city of Göttingen during an operation to defuse a bomb in 2010.
