Advertisement

Fireball Over Munich After War Bomb Blast

Experts in Germany have detonated a bomb left over from the Second World War.

The force of the controlled blast shook the city of Munich and created a giant fireball to rise into the sky.

However, burning debris set fire to several nearby buildings which had to be evacuated.

Some 2,500 residents were evacuated from the areas closest to the bomb, while others living further away were told to stay in their homes.

The 250kg explosive was discovered in central Munich in the Schwabing district on Monday by building workers at the site of an old bar that was being demolished.

No injuries were reported after the explosion which took place on Tuesday.

Efforts to defuse the bomb failed and authorities decided to pack it with explosives and detonate it rather than risk an uncontrolled explosion.

Allied airplanes dropped millions of tons of ordnance on Germany during World War II in an effort to cripple the Nazi war machine.

Tens of thousands of unexploded bombs are believed still to be lying in the ground in the country.