Three World War II bombs are defused in a German city's biggest postwar evacuation
Three unexploded US bombs from World War II were defused on Wednesday, June 4, in Cologne after the German city's biggest evacuation since the end of the war.
More than 20,000 residents were evacuated from the city center earlier Wednesday after the bombs were unearthed on Monday during preparatory work for road construction. Experts defused the bombs within about an hour, city authorities said in a statement.
Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime air raids are frequently found in Germany. Sometimes, large-scale precautionary evacuations are needed. The location this time was unusually prominent − just across the Rhine River from Cologne's historic center.
Significantly bigger evacuations have occurred in other German cities.
The evacuations included homes, 58 hotels, nine schools, a hospital and two nursing homes, several museums and office buildings and the Messe/Deutz train station. It also included three bridges across the Rhine, including the heavily used Hohenzollern railway bridge, which leads into Cologne's central station. Shipping on the Rhine also was suspended.
Clearance to go ahead with defusing the bombs was delayed somewhat because one person in the historic center initially refused to leave their home, city authorities said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
10 hours ago
- LeMonde
For Donald Trump, Ukraine and Russia are two children 'fighting in a park'
How does one mask a blatant failure? By presenting it as a necessary step. Unable to fulfill his campaign promise of immediately ending the war in Ukraine through his mediation, Donald Trump resorted to a striking analogy on Thursday, June 5. Welcoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to the Oval Office, the American president compared Ukrainians and Russians to "two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart. They don't want to be pulled. Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart. And I gave that analogy [to Russian president Vladimir] Putin yesterday." The American leader added that the same phenomenon could be seen in sports like hockey, where referees deliberately delay intervening. From this strange analogy, Trump drew the obvious conclusion that the fighting would continue. Without dwelling on the bold Ukrainian drone operation against Russian air bases, the billionaire summarized his exchange with Putin. "He actually told me, 'We have no choice but to attack... And it's probably not going to be pretty.' I said, 'I don't like it, I said don't do it, you shouldn't do it, you should stop it." Trump added that "there's a lot of hatred" between the two sides; no aggressor, no victim, in his telling. When repeatedly asked about new American sanctions against Russia, Trump claimed to have a deadline in mind, without revealing it.
LeMonde
14 hours ago
- LeMonde
Trump says he's 'very disappointed' in Musk, who called out the US president's 'ingratitude'
Tensions between Donald Trump and Elon Musk erupted into public view on Thursday, June 5, as the US president said he was "very disappointed" by his billionaire former aide's criticisms, and Musk hit back in real time on social media. "Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after Musk slammed his tax and spending mega-bill as an "abomination." The world's richest man responded by live-tweeting on his X social media platform as Trump spoke on television, saying that the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without him and slamming him for "ingratitude." In an extraordinary rant as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sat mutely beside him, 78-year-old Trump unloaded on SpaceX and Tesla boss Musk in his first comments on the issue. "I'm very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here... All of a sudden, he had a problem," Trump said when asked about Musk. The clash comes less than a week after Trump held a grand Oval Office farewell for Musk as he wrapped up his time leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). South African-born Musk, 53, hit back minutes later, saying Trump's claims he had advance sight of the bill were "false." "Whatever," he added above a video of Trump saying Musk was upset about the loss of subsidies for electric vehicles. Musk then ratcheted up the public spat even further, saying the Republican would have lost the election without his support. He was the biggest donor to Trump's campaign, to the tune of nearly $300 million. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," Musk said on X. "Such ingratitude." Tesla shares fell sharply on Wall Street, down 8%, after his comments, in a sign of the huge stakes for a falling out between the world's richest man and its most powerful. 'A little make-up?' A wistful-sounding Trump took reporters through the break-up with Musk on live television, in what at times sounded more like a therapy session than a meeting with a foreign leader. Trump talked about Musk's farewell appearance in the Oval Office on Friday, when he turned up with a black eye that he said was caused by a punch from his son. Musk at the time was also facing reports of drug use on the Trump campaign trail. "You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the Oval desk, and even with the black eye. I said, you want a little makeup? We'll get you a little makeup," Trump said. "But he said, 'No, I don't think so,' which is interesting and very nice. He wants to be who he is." Trump said he could understand why Musk was upset with some steps he had taken, including withdrawing a nominee to lead the NASA space agency whom the tech tycoon had backed. Through it all, the visiting German chancellor sat silently. Merz had prepared to avoid a repeat of the ambushes that Trump unleashed on the Ukrainian and South African presidents in the Oval Office – but in the end, it was Musk that the US president ambushed. At the center of the bitter row is Trump's "big, beautiful bill" on tax and spending. The centerpiece of his domestic agenda, it aims to continue tax cuts from his first term – and could define his second term and make or break Republican prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. Musk called it a "disgusting abomination" on Tuesday, on the grounds that it will increase the US deficit. A day later, the magnate called for Republicans to "kill the bill," and for an alternative plan that "doesn't massively grow the deficit."
France 24
15 hours ago
- France 24
'Very disappointed' Trump in stunning live break-up with Musk
"Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after Musk slammed his tax and spending mega-bill as an "abomination". The world's richest man responded by live-tweeting on his X social media platform as Trump spoke on television, saying that the Republican would not have won the 2024 election without him and slamming him for "ingratitude." In an extraordinary rant as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz sat mutely beside him, 78-year-old Trump unloaded on SpaceX and Tesla boss Musk in his first comments on the issue. "I'm very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here... All of a sudden, he had a problem," Trump said when asked about Musk. The clash comes less than a week since Trump held a grand Oval Office farewell for Musk as he wrapped up his time leading the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). South African-born Musk, 53, hit back minutes later, saying Trump's claims he had advance sight of the bill were "false." "Whatever," he added above a video of Trump saying Musk was upset about the loss of subsidies for electric vehicles. Musk then ratcheted up the public spat even further, saying the Republican would have lost the election without his support. He was the biggest donor to Trump's campaign, to the tune of nearly $300 million. "Without me, Trump would have lost the election," Musk said on X. "Such ingratitude." Tesla shares fell sharply on Wall Street, down eight percent, after his comments, in a sign of the huge stakes for a falling out between the world's richest man and its most powerful. 'A little make-up?' A wistful-sounding Trump took reporters through the break-up with Musk on live television, in what at times sounded more like a therapy session than a meeting with a foreign leader. Trump talked about Musk's farewell appearance in the Oval Office on Friday, when he turned up with a black eye that he said was caused by a punch from his son. Musk at the time was also facing reports of drug use on the Trump campaign trail. "You saw a man who was very happy when he stood behind the Oval desk, and even with the black eye. I said, you want a little makeup? We'll get you a little makeup," Trump said. "But he said, 'No, I don't think so,' which is interesting and very nice. He wants to be who he is." Trump said he could understand why Musk was upset with some steps he had taken, including withdrawing a nominee to lead the NASA space agency whom the tech tycoon had backed. Through it all, the visiting German chancellor sat silently. Merz had prepared to avoid a repeat of the ambushes that Trump unleashed on the Ukrainian and South African presidents in the Oval Office -- but in the end it was Musk that the US president ambushed. At the center of the bitter row is Trump's "big, beautiful bill" on tax and spending. The centerpiece of his domestic agenda, it aims to continue tax cuts from his first term -- and could define his second term and make or break Republican prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. Musk however called it a "disgusting abomination" on Tuesday, on the grounds that it will increase the US deficit. A day later, the magnate called for Republicans to "kill the bill," and for an alternative plan that "doesn't massively grow the deficit." © 2025 AFP
