Hospitals evacuated as specialists defuse WWII bomb in Cologne

Work to defuse a large US aviation bomb from World War II unearthed in the western German city of Cologne ran into technical difficulties on Friday, following the evacuation of three nearby hospitals.

According to city officials, specialists from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service were only able to defuse one of two detonators fitted to the unexploded 1000-kilogram bomb.

It therefore had to be detonated in a controlled manner, the city announced. The evacuation radius and defined danger zone remained unchanged.

Approximately 6,400 residents also had to leave their homes in what city officials described as the most complex evacuation of its kind in Cologne since 1945. Traffic and public transport were also diverted from the area.

A city spokesman said that around 1,300 people were involved in the operation in total, including staff from the public order office, police officers, firefighters, rescue personnel and 800 volunteers.

Two of three hospitals in the area were fully evacuated on Wednesday and Thursday, the city said. In total, about 640 patients were affected, with most being transferred to other hospitals.

However, the intensive care patients at the third location, the Merheim Hospital, were relocated to a so-called safe house on the site itself.

This had been specially secured with thick wooden panels in the unlikely event that the bomb explodes during the disposal process.

The bomb disposal had been intended to be completed before nightfall, if possible.

The device was found on a site where a new health campus is planned to be built.

Bomb disposals themselves are a common occurrence in Cologne, as the city was one of the most heavily bombed during World War II.