Police begin defusing World War II bomb

Created: 08/18/2022Updated: 08/18/2022 9:13 p.m

Police officers enter a residential building not far from Ostkreuz for the evacuation of residents.

© Paul Zinken/dpa

After a World War II bomb was found in Berlin-Friedrichshain, police specialists began defusing it on Thursday evening.

Before that, around 12,000 people had to leave the restricted area of ​​around 500 meters around the site.

The evacuation lasted several hours until late Thursday evening.

Using a cutting system with high-pressure water, the two detonators on the 500-kilogram explosive device are now to be removed and then blown up.

Berlin – With the start of the defusing, the ship and S-Bahn traffic in the area, which had continued to run without restrictions until shortly before, will also be interrupted.

Air traffic over the area has also been disrupted.

The bomb is then to be taken to the police detonation site in Grunewald, where there was a fire a few days ago.

dpa