WW2 bomb found in German city Regensburg causes widespread destruction despite 'controlled' explosion

A World War Two bomb found on a construction site in Germany shattered windows and damaged surrounding buildings despite police efforts to carry out a controlled explosion.

The 250kg bomb was uncovered during construction work in the southern city of Regensburg and could not be moved or defused, demolition experts concluded.

Despite more than 70 years underground, investigators said the unexploded weapon posed a genuine threat and needed to be detonated as soon as possible.

Around 4,500 people were evacuated from within a 1.5km radius of the site, as a specialist team conducted the explosion under carefully controlled conditions.

A bomb disposal robot placed an explosive charge next to the bomb, according to Mittelbayerische Zeitung newspaper.

The resulting explosion, which took place at 4.45am local time on Wednesday, could be heard kilometres away.

While no one was hurt by the blast, it caused considerable damage to buildings in the area – leaving the city littered with shards of smashed windows, and buildings riddled with cracks.

A full inspection of the damage will be carried out on Wednesday, but police have already conducted initial safety checks and residents have been allowed to return home.

It took until 3am on Wednesday morning to completely evacuate the restricted area, as a number of residents initially refused to leave their houses, German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported.

This is not the first time Regensburg has been hit by the threat of an unexploded bomb.

In 2017, the city’s prison was forced to evacuate some 97 inmates, along with 1,500 nearby residents, after a World War Two bomb was discovered just metres from the building.

On this occasion, the 225kg bomb was defused “without disturbances”, according to the head of Regensburg prison, Christian Gessenharter.

Since the end of the war, Germany has witnessed far larger evacuations as a result of hidden bomb discoveries.

In August 2018, around 18,500 people were forced to leave their homes in Ludwigshafen, and in September 2017, Frankfurt evacuated around 70,000 over the threat of a 1.4 tonne British "blockbuster" bomb.