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 the public order office are on duty.
Essen - After the discovery of a particularly large air mine from the Second World War in Essen, the evacuation measures and immediate preparations for defusing it are in full swing.
More than 11,000 people had to leave their apartments and houses within a radius of one kilometer in the area around the site in the Stoppenberg district.
"We are now finished with the first round, the evacuation in the inner circle," reported a city spokeswoman for the German Press Agency in the afternoon.
"Now we are starting the second pass." A total of three square kilometers is to be worked on.
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According to the status of the evacuation, the city expected that the experts from the ordnance disposal service from Düsseldorf could start defusing the dud in the late afternoon or early evening.
According to the information, the exceptionally large bomb found during exploratory work on Tuesday has three impact detonators and an explosive quantity of 840 kilograms.
An air mine with such explosive power had not been found in Essen for at least 20 years, the city had announced.
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 1000 meters, people were not allowed to be outdoors and visit certain parts of the building.
Seven daycare centers in the affected area were closed all day.
More than 100 ambulances were registered by the residents, of which around half were processed in the afternoon.
There were also restrictions for citizens 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.
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