70,000 Evacuated From Frankfurt to Defuse British WWII Bomb

This will be one of the largest evacuations in German post-war history.

The 1.4-tonne HC 4000 bomb dropped by the British air force during World War Two was uncovered on a building site.

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Evacuation of some 70,000 people began on Sunday, 3 September, in Germany's Frankfurt city in order defuse a massive unexploded World War II bomb. The bomb, which was dropped by the British during Allied bombing campaigns, is an aerial mine HC 4000, weighing 1.4 tonnes, reports Efe news.

The evacuation is set to last two hours, the police said. A security perimeter of 1.5 km was set up around the area where the bomb was found on 29 August near Goethe University in Westend, which is home to the Bundesbank (Central Bank of Germany), police headquarters, the headquarters of Hesse radio and television broadcasting, Palmengarten botanical gardens, two hospitals and 20 retirement homes.

A thousand firefighters and an undetermined number of police officers were assisting in the operation, the largest in Germany's post-war history.

Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, Frankfurt's Goethe University, and at least two hospitals will also be evacuated, in one of the largest evacuations in German post-war history.

The 1.4-tonne HC 4000 bomb dropped by the British air force during World War Two was uncovered on a building site on Wismarer Strasse in Frankfurt’s leafy Westend where many wealthy bankers live.

Bomb disposal experts who examined it said the massive evacuation could wait until the weekend.

"We are still working on the modalities of the evacuation plan," a spokeswoman for Frankfurt police said on Wednesday.

(This story has been updated.)