Defusing an air mine from WWII is a logistical challenge.
11,000 people have to be evacuated in Essen.
750 people from the fire brigade, aid organizers and public order office are on duty.
Essen - In Essen, a large air mine from the Second World War was defused on Wednesday.
The city announced this on Twitter in the evening.
The extraordinarily large bomb with three impact fuses was discovered on Tuesday during exploratory work.
More than 11,000 people had to leave their apartments and houses within a radius of one kilometer around the site in the Stoppenberg district.
Shortly before 8 p.m., the city announced that all evacuation measures had been completed and the defusing could begin.
The dud had three impact fuses and a quantity of 840 kilograms of explosives.
An air mine with such explosive power has not been found in Essen for at least 20 years, the city said.
As early as 8.30 a.m., work began to bring the residents and employees of the eight affected elderly, care and handicapped facilities to safety.
Within a radius of another thousand meters, people were not allowed to be outdoors.
Seven daycare centers in the affected area were closed all day.
More than 100 ambulances were registered by the residents.
Residents who could not leave their homes in the endangered area were brought to safety.
Only around 7.45 p.m. were all patient transports completed.
There were also restrictions in car, bus and train traffic.
Some roads and railway lines between Essen Central Station and Gelsenkirchen had to be temporarily closed.
A recycling center in Altenessen was also temporarily closed because it was in the restricted area.
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The city had set up two care centers for the people affected by the evacuation as well as a citizen hotline that received more than 1200 calls - a record for Essen.
A total of around 750 emergency services from the fire brigade, various aid organizations from all over North Rhine-Westphalia as well as numerous Essen clerks took part in the action.
dpa
