Cologne starts its biggest evacuation since 1945 to defuse WWII bombs

Recycling centre closed after 'WW2 bomb' found

Police and a bomb disposal squad were called to the scene

Wartime secret discovered by builders beneath North East school playground

A World War II-era air raid shelter has been discovered beneath the playground of Oxbridge Lane Primary School, in Stockton.

3 World War II bombs are defused in a German city’s biggest postwar evacuation

Three unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II were defused on Wednesday in Cologne after the German city’s biggest evacuation since the end of the war.More than 20,000 residents were evacuated from the city center earlier Wednesday after the bombs were unearthed on Monday during preparatory work for road construction.Experts defused the bombs within about an hour, city authorities said in a statement.Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexp…

WWII Bombs Discovered in Cologne Prompt Mass Evacuation

The discovery of three unexploded WWII bombs in Cologne, Germany, forced the evacuation of over 20,000 residents on June 4, 2025, marking the city’s largest such operation since the end of the war. The ordnance, identified as two 20-hundredweight and one 10-hundredweight American aerial bombs with impact fuses, was unearthed during construction in the Deutz district. Authorities established a 3,280-foot evacuation zone encompassing critical infr…

Cologne Evacuates More Than 20K People After WWII Bombs Are Discovered

Cologne, Germany, was just forced to execute its largest evacuation since World War II. The evacuation came after three unexploded bombs from the era were discovered. The American bombs were found in a shipyard on June 2 during preparatory work for road construction, The Associated Press reported. That discovery of two 20-ton bombs and one 10-ton explosive prompted an evacuation of more than 20,000 people on June 4, CNN reported, citing the city…

WWII bombs force mass evacuation in Cologne, Germany

Cologne was subject to particularly heavy bombings during World War II, with unexploded artillery still posing a threat to the city. The bombs had been found during building work on Monday in the Deutz area on the east bank of the River Rhine