British WW2 bomb found in Berlin successfully defused after thousands evacuated

Berlin police have successfully defused a huge World War Two bomb, which led to the evacuation of some 10,000 people.

The 1,100lb bomb was believed to have been dropped by the British.

The bomb was found during construction work in the Heidestrasse district, leading to homes, ministries, museums and even nearby hospitals all being evacuated.

Authorities said by mid-afternoon that the bomb had been successfully defused.

‘A short bang – there was a controlled explosion of the detonator away from the bomb,’ the police said.

Earlier, an 800 metre exclusion zone has been placed around the site of the bomb.

Shelters had been put up for those affected.

The discovery had caused widescale disruption to the German capital.

It is the latest in a number of unexploded bombs found recently in Germany including one at Berlin’s Tegel airport and another in Frankfurt last year, which led to the evacuation of 65,00 people.

An estimated more than 2,000 tons of bombs and ammunition are unearthed in Germany each year.

More than 363 bombing raids were carried out on Berlin during the Second World War.

British bombers alone dropped more than 45,000 tons of bombs during the conflict.

MOST POPULAR TODAY ON YAHOO

• Plague of rats ‘the size of small dogs’ chewing through car cables as they take over English town

• Scary Obama video highlights how ‘Deepfake’ videos are the next stage of ‘fake news’

• ‘Animals make funny sounds and smell bad’: Farmer puts up scathing sign for complaining ‘townies’

• Ex-Playboy model who claims she had affair with Donald Trump freed from contract banning her from discussing him

• Flip phones are making a comeback as everyone gets sick of social media

Berlin police tweeted about the bomb on Friday calling it the ‘origin of all evil’, because of the disruption it has caused to the city.

However, after the discovery, they added there was no immediate danger to residents because of the bomb.

Earlier on Friday, the authorities said they had no idea how long the operation to defuse the bomb would take and would depend on the condition of the missile.

IN the end, it took several hours.

Despite the successful outcome, there had been travel disruption in the city.

Rail company Deutsche Bahn warned of large-scale disruption for trains on Friday.

Images showed the central train station to be completely deserted of passengers while the operation to remove the bomb was carried out.

By Friday afternoon however it was reported that Berlin’s main train station had opened again.