German police finds unexploded WWII bomb in Dresden, evacuates 15,000

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Apr 2023 17:24

After finding an unexploded American bomb, 385 police officers have been mobilized to adequately contain the incident.

The ruin of the Frauenkirche and the Hofkirche cathedral, Dresden 1950 (Alamy)

15,000 civilians in the German city of Dresden have been evacuated after discovering an unexploded American bomb ranging back to the second world war, according to German police.

"It is a 250-kilogram US-made air bomb," the local police told the Bild newspaper.

The bomb reportedly needs to be deactivated on the spot and cannot be transferred for risk detonation.

The newspaper added that the dangerous area includes two nursing homes whose patients can't be transported for health complications.

385 police officers have been mobilized to adequately contain the incident.

Around the end of the second world war, Dresden which was predominantly civilian-populated was unnecessarily brutally bombed by Americans and the British on the Western front, when Berlin was already underway to be liberated by the Red Army and the war had already been won. In only a few hours, three waves of bombers leveled almost half the city, killing 250,000 people, most of whom were civilians.