Cologne, a major city in Germany, released its largest evacuation order since World War II with the discovery of three unexploded bombs in a shipyard. The explosives were found on Monday and prompted a full-scale emergency response on Wednesday. The bombs were found amidst construction work, with two weighing 20 tons and one weighing 10 tons, triggering an evacuation zone of 1 kilometer, affecting 20,500 residents in the area.
The evacuation order was announced by the city’s authorities at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and sealed off a wide radius around the densely populated Rhine riverbank, opposite the old town. The affected areas included key facilities in the city, including a major hospital—leading patients in critical care to be transferred to a safe zone via ambulances—retirement centers, schools, hotels, the Messe/Deutz railway station, and cultural landmarks such as the Cologne Philharmonic Hall and Musical Dome Theatre.
Although the presence of World War II bombs is not uncommon in Cologne, being a city devastated by countless air raids, this incident marked the largest post-war evacuation in nearly 80 years. Remnants of the war continue to emerge periodically, despite much of the city having been rebuilt, as nearly the entire old town, including a majority of its churches, was destroyed during wartime bombings.t.
According to city officials, the defusal was carried out successfully by the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Service from Düsseldorf by 7:19 p.m., and the residents were able to return to their homes. The city’s facilities were also gradually opened as the emergency services completed final safety checks.
The discovery of these bombs emphasized the continued need for vigilance in areas with a heavy wartime history. Last October, 10,000 residents were evacuated with the discovery of a similar bomb in the city and a smaller one involving 3,000 people in December.
Despite these evacuations being a routine part of life in urban areas of western Germany, the scale of this week’s operation was unprecedented even for a major city such as Cologne.
