Up to 70,000 people will leave their homes in the Greek city on Saturday during operation to defuse 250kg device

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This article is more than 2 years old

Up to 70,000 people are to be evacuated from the Greek city of Thessaloniki ahead of an operation to defuse an unexploded second world war bomb.

The bomb, containing nearly 250kg (550lb) of explosives, was unearthed in the northern city during roadworks last week and is due to be defused on Sunday.

More than 300 disabled people and bedbound patients were to be the first evacuated on Saturday using 20 ambulances, authorities from Greece’s second city said.

The full evacuation of all residents within a 1.1-mile radius of the bomb site is due to be completed before 8am on Sunday.

Evacuation was “obligatory”, the regional security chief Apostolos Tzitzikostas said. He added that the operation was unprecedented in Greece, “where a bomb of this size has never been found in an area this densely populated”.

Regional authorities said the entire operation would take up to eight hours.

A local military spokesman, Colonel Nikos Phanios, was more cautious. “We don’t know what we’re going to find,” he said. Defusing the bomb and then moving it to a military shooting range “could take us up to two days”, he added. It was not known who dropped the bomb or when it fell.

A thousand police officers have been mobilised for the evacuation, with residents given several days’ warning via the media, leaflets and posts on social networks. Thessaloniki residents were facing disruption on the bus and train networks, with facilities set up to host evacuees in need of shelter.

People living in a nearby refugee camp will also have to be evacuated, the migration ministry said, without specifying the number affected. At their request, the refugees will use the evacuation as an opportunity to visit the local archaeology museum, the ministry added.

Seven decades after the end of the second world war, unexploded bombs are still being found around the globe. On 23 January, dozens of people were evacuated after a bomb was found near a Hong Kong university. Three days earlier, experts disposed of a suspected second world war bomb found close to the Palace of Westminster in London.

In the German city of Augsburg, 54,000 people had to leave their homes on 25 December while authorities dealt with a bomb dropped by Britain during the second world war.</s>Greek authorities on Saturday began evacuating some 70,000 people in the city of Thessaloniki ahead of an operation to defuse a from World War II.

 

 The bomb, containing nearly 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of explosives, was unearthed in the northern city during road works last week and is due to be on Sunday.

More than 300 disabled people and bedbound patients were set to be the first evacuated on Saturday using 20 ambulances, authorities from Greece's second city said.The full of all residents within a 1.9-kilometre (1.1-mile) radius of the site, affecting three working-class neighbourhoods around west of the city-centre, is due to be completed before 08:00 (local time) on Sunday.is "obligatory", regional security chief Apostolos Tzitzikostas told reporters on Friday.The operation is unprecedented in Greece, "where a of this size has never been found in an area this densely populated," Tzitzikostas added.Regional authorities said the entire operation would take up to eight hours, but local military spokesman Colonel Nikos Phanios was more cautious."We don't know what we're going to find," he told AFP. Defusing the and then moving it to a military shooting range "could take us up to two days", he added.It is not yet known which side in the war dropped the or when it fell, Phanios said.A thousand police officers have been mobilised for the operation, with residents given several days' warning via the media, leaflets and posts on social networks.Thessaloniki residents were facing disruption on the bus and train networks, with facilities set up to host evacuees in need of shelter.People living in a nearby refugee camp will also have to be evacuated, the migration ministry said, without specifying the number affected. At their request, the refugees will use the as an opportunity to visit the local archaeology museum, the ministry added.Seven decades after the end of World War II, unexploded bombs from the conflict are still being found around the globe.On January 23 dozens of people were evacuated after a was found near a Hong Kong university, while three days before that Britain's navy disposed of a suspected World War II found close to the parliament in London.In the German city of Augsburg, 54,000 people had an unwelcome Christmas surprise on December 25 when they had to leave their homes while authorities dealt with a dropped by Britain during the war.</s>THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A massive evacuation has begun in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki so experts can defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb.

Police went house-to-house Sunday morning, ringing bells and knocking on doors to remind people living within a 1.9-kilometer (1.18-mile) radius of the bomb site to leave their homes. Most were leaving in their cars, but some were being transported by bus to schools, sports halls and cultural centers elsewhere in the city, where they can get food and shelter.

Authorities believe about 75,000 people will be evacuated, most from the western suburb of Kordelio. A state of emergency has been declared in the area involved and about 1,000 police and 300 volunteers are helping in the evacuation. Trains have been halted in the area and church services cancelled.

Residents of Kordelio district are seen aboard a bus after authorities ordered the evacuation of the area in order to defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb, in Thessaloniki, Greece Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Bomb disposal experts are to tackle the device, found buried beneath a gas station, on Sunday in an operation expected to last about six hours, with all residents in a nearly 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius being evacuated. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

The bomb, dropped during an air raid in the 1940s, was found earlier this month during work to expand storage tanks under a gas station. Defusing it is expected to take about six hours.

"It's the first time something like this is happening in Greece," Thessaloniki Deputy Governor Voula Patoulidou told The Associated Press.

Residents of Kordelio district board a taxi after authorities ordered the evacuation of the area in order to defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb, in Thessaloniki, Greece Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Bomb disposal experts are to tackle the device, found buried beneath a gas station, on Sunday in an operation expected to last about six hours, with all residents in a nearly 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius being evacuated. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Residents of Kordelio district board a bus after authorities ordered the evacuation of the area in order to defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb, in Thessaloniki, Greece Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Bomb disposal experts are to tackle the device, found buried beneath a gas station, on Sunday in an operation expected to last about six hours, with all residents in a nearly 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius being evacuated. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Experts check the location where an unexploded World War II bomb was found 5 meters (over 16 feet) deep, at a gas station in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2016. Authorities in Greece's second-largest city on Sunday are planning to evacuate up to 60,000 residents from their homes so experts can safely dispose of the unexploded World War II bomb. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

An employee of a gas station checks the location where an unexploded World War II bomb was found 5 meters (over 16 feet) deep, in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2016. Authorities in Greece's second-largest city on Sunday are planning to evacuate up to 60,000 residents from their homes so experts can safely dispose of the unexploded World War II bomb. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)</s>Residents of Kordelio district are seen aboard a bus after authorities ordered the evacuation of the area in order to defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb, in Thessaloniki, Greece Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. Bomb disposal experts are to tackle the device, found buried beneath a gas station, on Sunday in an operation expected to last about six hours, with all residents in a nearly 2-kilometer radius being evacuated.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Albany Times Union.</s>A massive evacuation has begun in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki so experts can defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb.

An estimated 75,000 people are being evacuated in a nearly 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius Sunday. The bomb, dropped during an air raid in the 1940s, was found this month during work to expand storage tanks under a gas station.

A state of emergency has been declared in the three municipalities involved and about 1,000 police and 300 volunteers helping out. Trains have been halted and church services cancelled.

Thessaloniki’s Deputy Governor Voula Patoulidou told The Associated Press “it’s the first time something like this is happening in Greece.”

Residents are being bused to schools, sports halls and cultural centers during the operation, which is expected to take six hours.</s>THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A massive evacuation has begun in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki so experts can defuse a 500-pound unexploded World War II bomb.

Police went house-to-house Sunday morning, ringing bells and knocking on doors to remind people living within a 1.9-kilometer (1.18-mile) radius of the bomb site to leave their homes. Most were leaving in their cars, but some were being transported by bus to schools, sports halls and cultural centers elsewhere in the city, where they can get food and shelter.

Authorities believe about 75,000 people will be evacuated, most from the western suburb of Kordelio. A state of emergency has been declared in the area involved and about 1,000 police and 300 volunteers are helping in the evacuation. Trains have been halted in the area and church services cancelled.

The bomb, dropped during an air raid in the 1940s, was found earlier this month during work to expand storage tanks under a gas station. Defusing it is expected to take about six hours.

“It’s the first time something like this is happening in Greece,” Thessaloniki Deputy Governor Voula Patoulidou told The Associated Press.</s>A massive evacuation began in Greece on Sunday allowing experts to defuse an unexploded World War II bomb.

An estimated 75,000 people are being evacuated in the Greek city of Thessaloniki.

The 500-pound bomb dropped during an air raid in the 1940s and was found in February during work to expand storage tanks under a gas station.

The three municipalities involved have declared a state of emergency. Nearly 1,000 police officials and 300 volunteers are helping out. Trains were halted and church services have been cancelled.

Thessaloniki's Deputy Governor Voula Patoulidou told The Associated Press "it's the first time something like this is happening in Greece."

Residents are being bused to schools, sports halls and cultural centers during the operation, which is expected to take around six hours.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>As a rule, it's considered less than desirable to have a long-unexploded bomb buried deep in the ground near your property. Even less so when that property is a gas station.

Yet that's precisely what residents in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece, discovered last week. And it's precisely why some 72,000 of them are scheduled to be evacuated from the city Sunday, as authorities seek to defuse and extricate the World War II-era weapon.

Reuters reports it is the largest peacetime evacuation in the country's history.

Local authorities say the bomb — which was buried 16 feet deep, according to The Associated Press — was uncovered by a gas company crew that had been working on the station's underground tanks. Though local and international media reports vary, the bomb is believed to be between 150 and 250 kilograms — roughly the size of weapons commonly dropped by bombers during the war.

The weapon is "ordinary" and fairly familiar to the group preparing to defuse it, officials say. The defusal unit has already "deactivated dozens of similar bombs found at Thessaloniki's Macedonia international airport, along the [Trans Adriatic Pipeline] route and other areas," according to the Athens-Macedonia News Agency.

During World War II, as well as the Greek Civil War that directly followed, combatants considered the major port city of Thessaloniki a position of strategic importance.

The deputy regional governor, Voula Patoulidou, says officials are taking every possible precaution.

A significantly smaller evacuation, which involved several hundred people last Friday, was called off after officials realized it would not be sufficient. On Tuesday they finalized a new plan, which covers everyone living within a range of 1.2 miles around the bomb — including 62,000 people in Kordelio-Evosmos, in the northwest of Thessaloniki, and another 10,000 from a nearby neighborhood, the AMNA reports.

While the defusal efforts are underway in the evacuation area, the Greek news service says all gas stations there are expected to empty their tanks, all business activity will be halted and the entire area will be covered under a state of emergency.

Officials aim to complete the defusal by 10 a.m. local time Sunday. Reuters reports they will be mobilizing about 100 buses and vans to remove residents to local gymnasiums, stadiums and cafes while they wait.</s>THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Authorities in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki were evacuating an estimated 75,000 people Sunday in order to defuse a 500-pound (227-kilogram) unexploded World War II bomb found under a gas station.

The evacuation started at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) but three hours later it was still continuing, delaying the expected start of the bomb-defusing operation. Police went house-to-house ringing bells and knocking on doors to remind people living within a 1.9-kilometer (1.18-mile) radius, mostly in the western suburb of Kordelio, to leave their homes.

Many people left in their cars, but some were being bused to schools and sports halls elsewhere in the city, where they can find food and shelter.

Others, like 26-year-old Alexander Bogdani and his wife, Anna Bokonozi, left on foot. The couple, pushing a stroller with their toddler daughter, were going to a place about 1 kilometer (over 1/2 mile) from their home.

“They have warned us … we are afraid for the child,” Bogdani said.

The city’s main bus station was shut down, trains in the area were halted and churches canceled their Sunday services. The city also booked a 175-room hotel where people with limited mobility and their escorts were taken on Saturday.

“This is the largest population move in peacetime. People must be calm and not panic,” Central Macedonia governor Apostolos Tzitzikostas said.

The operation to defuse the bomb, found under a gas station, is expected to last about six hours, authorities say.

Army bomb disposal experts will initially attempt to defuse the bomb’s detonator, and then transport it to an army firing range, where they will figure out what further steps to take, said army spokesman Col. Nikos Fanios.

Fanios said the device’s exterior was too degraded to be able to determine whether it was a German or an Allied bomb. But one resident says he recalls the day it fell.

“The bombing was done by English and American planes on Sept. 17, 1944. It was Sunday lunchtime,” said Giorgos Gerasimou, 86, whose home is half a mile away.

The Allies were targeting local German rail facilities, he said.</s>On Wednesday, a police officer looks into the hole where an unexploded World War II-era bomb was found during work on a gas station's underground tanks. The city's authorities have planned a massive evacuation Sunday while they attempt to defuse and remove the bomb.

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Over 70,000 people are evacuated from Thessaloniki, Greece, as authorities attempt to defuse a World War II-era unexploded ordnance, which was discovered last week.