Berlin-Sana
German authorities defused a large bomb dating back to World War II in the city of Essen, northwest Germany.
The city authorities stated that the bomb that was defused yesterday was found during excavations last Tuesday, noting that an air mine with such explosive power had not been found in the city for 20 years.
About 11,000 people living in a radius of about a kilometer around the site of the bomb were forced to leave their homes in the district of Stubenberg, as the authorities restricted the movement of cars, buses and trains within the area, as well as temporarily closing some streets and a railway linking the main train station in Essen and the city of Gelsenkirchen.