German explosives experts on Sunday defused a huge World War II bomb in Frankfurt after compulsorily evacuating 60,000 people, Reuters reported. In the biggest evacuation in Germany since the war, over a thousand emergency field workers helped clear the area around the bomb from Saturday onwards. The evacuated area of around 1.5 kilometres included care homes, hospitals and the German central bank, The Guardian said.
The day-long operation was delayed as some residents refused to evacuate the area despite officials warning them of the hazardous impact of a possible detonation of the bomb, which is believed to be big enough to flatten a city block. Those refusing to evacuate were taken into custody to secure the area, police said.
The bomb had been discovered on August 28 close to the Goethe University in Frankfurt.
Every year, more that 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions are discovered in Germany, more than 70 years after the war ended, Reuters reported.
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