Around 60,000 people were forced to leave their homes while authorities defuse a massive World War II bomb discovered buried at a construction site.

The bomb was found during work Tuesday close to the Goethe University Frankfurt compound, police said in a statement.

The device is a British bomb, specifically a 1.4-ton HC 4000 air mine, the statement said. It was under police guard ahead of Sunday's operation to make it safe.

Police said the size of the bomb made extensive evacuation measures a necessary precaution. Residents were told to leave their homes by 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) ahead of the operation to defuse the bomb, which was set to begin at midday and take about four hours.

Authorities began evacuating hospitals and care homes Saturday, as well as the German federal reserve and a major local broadcaster. Soon after 8 a.m., Frankfurt fire brigade spokesman Markus Röck said the evacuation procedure appeared to have gone smoothly. "The situation is relaxed which is a good sign and everything so far is going according to plan. We will now assess if everybody has left voluntarily and go from house to house and remove people if necessary. People who need assistance are being transported over the next few hours," Röck said. Patients of the Buergerhospital clinic were moved to another hospital. The fire brigade tweeted: "Transport for those who can't leave on their own is on its way into the evacuation zone." It said 1,100 relief workers and fire fighters had been deployed for the operation. The brigade's director, Reinhard Ries, told reporters: "The scale of this bomb is overwhelming. I have never seen anything like it." Police have the authority to forcibly remove residents from their homes. The fire brigade said in a statemen t that streets would be patrolled with the assistance of helicopters to ensure that no-one had been left behind and that homes were secure. Shelters have been set up for residents who are unable to go to friends or family during the bomb operation, with food provided. The two main shelters -- at a convention center and a concert hall -- can house up to 10,000 people, Röck told CNN. The city is also offering many activities to evacuees, with all public museums open and free of charge. "Not everyone has the opportunity to spend the day with friends or relatives. By offering free entry to all city museums we want to help those affected to spend a few hours without worrying", Frankfurt's Mayor Peter Feldmann said in a statement. t tweeted that airport tours would be free to all Frankfurters forced to leave their homes, while residents organized other distractions such as yoga in the park. t tweeted that airport tours would be free to all Frankfurters forced to leave their homes, while residents organized other distractions such as yoga in the park. Frankfurt airpor t tweeted that airport tours would be free to all Frankfurters forced to leave their homes, while residents organized other distractions such as yoga in the park. The Frankfurt fire brigade said residents are expected to be able to return to their homes from 6 p.m. local time. One group organized yoga for residents evacuated from their homes. World War II may have ended over 70 years ago, but its legacy still lingers in cities across Germany. Some streets close to the evacuation zone looked deserted Sunday. In May, more than 50,000 people were asked to leave Hanover after a bomb was discovered during pre-construction work on a site in the Vahrenwald district. On Christmas Day 2016, another 50,000 were evacuated from Augsburg in south Germany after a 1.8-ton bomb was found beneath an underground parking garage.</s>Police officers check if the residents have left the evacuation area in Frankfurt. Pic/AFP

German explosives experts started to defuse a massive World War Two bomb in Frankfurt on Sunday after tens of thousands of people evacuated their homes.

The bomb was discovered on a building site last week and around 60,000 people were ordered to leave their residences in what was Germany's biggest evacuation since the war.

The work by bomb technicians started later than planned as some people refused to leave the evacuation area despite fire chiefs warning that an uncontrolled explosion would be big enough to flatten a city block. More than a thousand emergency service workers helped to clear the area and people filed into a temporary shelter at Frankfurt's trade fair site.

The evacuation area includes Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, where $70 billion in gold reserves are stored. Police set up cordons around the evacuation area.

Defusing the bomb

Bomb disposal experts were set to use a special system to try and unscrew the fuses attached to the bomb from a safe distance. If that fails, a water jet will be used to cut the fuses.

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Tonnes of live bombs and munitions found each year in Germany</s>Police said bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge World War II-era bomb in the German financial capital Frankfurt that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany’s biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 500-kilogram US bomb on Saturday.

Construction workers found the 1.8-ton (4,000-pound) British bomb on Tuesday. Officials ordered residents to evacuate homes within a 1.5-kilometer (nearly a mile) radius of the site in Germany’s financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early on Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.</s>FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German authorities are making final preparations in Frankfurt before experts defuse a huge World War II-era bomb Sunday in an operation that includes evacuating more than 60,000 residents.

Hospital patients and the elderly are among those affected in what will be Germany’s biggest evacuation in recent history.

Construction workers found the 1.8-ton (4,000-pound) British bomb Tuesday. Officials have ordered residents to evacuate homes within a 1.5-kilometer (nearly a mile) radius of the site in Germany’s financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up before driving to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 500-kilogram U.S. bomb Saturday.</s>Technicians worked for hours Sunday to successfully defuse a World War II-era bomb that had been lying dormant under the bustling streets of Frankfurt for some seven decades.

The 4,000 pound bomb was discovered Tuesday at a construction site for Goethe University faculty buildings, reports The New York Times. It is believed to have been dropped by the British Royal Air Force.

Everybody within a mile radius of the bomb had to leave Sunday morning, leading to an evacuation of more than 60,000 people.

The BBC says it was the largest evacuation in Germany since the end of World War II. Experts warned that if the bomb accidentally went off, it would be powerful enough to flatten an entire street.

There were no exceptions to the rule: everybody had to clear out, including those inside hospitals, nursing homes and Germany's central bank.

Premature babies and ICU patients were among those who got out, says the BBC.

For those who opted not to go far, the city opened its convention center and museums offered free entry.

Police used a heat-sensitive camera to ensure nobody remained before experts went to work defusing the 2-ton bomb, reports The Times.

It was a job that has been done many times over; on average about 2,000 tons of unexploded ordnance are found every year across the country, reports the BBC. Every couple of weeks, Germany's bomb-disposal unit disables a bomb and says the work should last for years to come.

There are believed to still be hundreds of thousands of unexploded bombs dropped during WW II remaining throughout Germany.

The Two-Way reported in May that 50,000 people had to evacuate the German city of Hanover while experts defused three British bombs.



Millions of tons of bombs were dropped over the course of the war, many of which never went off. And so, cities were rebuilt and life went on over ordnance that is still able to wreak havoc. About a dozen bomb technicians have been killed in Germany since 2000, reports Smithsonian Magazine. And the danger may be getting worse. (NPR's) Soraya (Sarhaddi Nelson) says, "Undetonated World War II bombs, of which there are thousands still buried around Germany, are becoming more dangerous with time because of components breaking down."



Just a day before Frankfurt's evacuation, around 21,000 residents had to leave their homes in the western city of Koblenz, while a 1,100-pound American bomb was defused.

Frankfurt Police called the bomb defused Sunday, "the defeated beast" and tweeted images of it being loaded onto a truck and driven away.

City officials said residents of the evacuated neighborhood should be allowed to return to their homes by 8:00 p.m. local time.</s>Frankfurt (CNN) Frankfurt authorities defused a massive World War II bomb on Sunday, days after it was discovered buried at a construction site.

Frankfurt police said in a tweet Sunday afternoon that the delicate process had been completed successfully.

Central Frankfurt looked like a ghost town after nearly 60,000 people were evacuated, forced to leave their homes ahead of the operation in the German city. The bomb was found during work Tuesday close to the Goethe University Frankfurt compound on Wismarer Street, police said in a statement.

#Weltkriegsbombe #Frankfurt



Das sind die Helden von Frankfurt und das besiegte Biest.



Tausend Dank an René Bennert & Dieter Schwetzler! pic.twitter.com/cuHbjfzZe6 — Polizei Frankfurt (@Polizei_Ffm) September 3, 2017

The device was a British bomb, specifically a 1.4-ton HC 4000 air mine, the statement said, and was put under police guard ahead of Sunday's operation to make it safe.

Police said the size of the bomb made extensive evacuation measures a necessary precaution. Residents were told to leave their homes by 8 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET) before the operation to defuse the bomb began.

Read More</s>Bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge Second World War bomb in the German financial capital Frankfurt that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents, police said.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany's biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 1,100lb US bomb on Saturday.

Officials ordered residents to evacuate their homes within a mile radius of the site in Germany's financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.</s>Technicians worked for hours Sunday to successfully defuse a World War II-era bomb that had been lying dormant under the bustling streets of Frankfurt for some seven decades.

The 4,000 pound bomb was discovered Tuesday at a construction site for Goethe University faculty buildings, reports The New York Times. It is believed to have been dropped by the British Royal Air Force.

Everybody within a mile radius of the bomb had to leave Sunday morning, leading to an evacuation of more than 60,000 people.

The BBC says it was the largest evacuation in Germany since the end of World War II. Experts warned that if the bomb accidentally went off, it would be powerful enough to flatten an entire street.

There were no exceptions to the rule: everybody had to clear out, including those inside hospitals, nursing homes and Germany's central bank.

Premature babies and ICU patients were among those who got out, says the BBC.

For those who opted not to go far, the city opened its convention center and museums offered free entry.

Police used a heat-sensitive camera to ensure nobody remained before experts went to work defusing the 2-ton bomb, reports The Times.

It was a job that has been done many times over; on average about 2,000 tons of unexploded ordnance are found every year across the country, reports the BBC. Every couple of weeks, Germany's bomb-disposal unit disables a bomb and says the work should last for years to come.

There are believed to still be hundreds of thousands of unexploded bombs dropped during WW II remaining throughout Germany.

The Two-Way reported in May that 50,000 people had to evacuate the German city of Hanover while experts defused three British bombs.



Millions of tons of bombs were dropped over the course of the war, many of which never went off. And so, cities were rebuilt and life went on over ordnance that is still able to wreak havoc. About a dozen bomb technicians have been killed in Germany since 2000, reports Smithsonian Magazine. And the danger may be getting worse. (NPR's) Soraya (Sarhaddi Nelson) says, "Undetonated World War II bombs, of which there are thousands still buried around Germany, are becoming more dangerous with time because of components breaking down."



Just a day before Frankfurt's evacuation, around 21,000 residents had to leave their homes in the western city of Koblenz, while a 1,100-pound American bomb was defused.

Frankfurt Police called the bomb defused Sunday, "the defeated beast" and tweeted images of it being loaded onto a truck and driven away.

City officials said residents of the evacuated neighborhood should be allowed to return to their homes by 8:00 p.m. local time.</s>German explosives experts defused a massive World War Two bomb in the financial capital of Frankfurt on Sunday after tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes.

The compulsory evacuation of 60,000 people was Germany's biggest such manoeuvre since the war, with more than a thousand emergency service workers helping to clear the area around the bomb, which was discovered on a building site last week.

The evacuation area included two hospitals, care homes, the Opera House and Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, where $70-billion in gold reserves are stored underground. Police maintained security at the building.

The all-day effort took longer than planned but officials expressed relief that residents would start returning home before sundown and that the operation wouldn't disrupt business on Monday.

The work by bomb technicians started later than scheduled because some residents refused to leave the evacuation area despite fire chiefs warning that an uncontrolled explosion would be big enough to flatten a city block. Police said they took stragglers into custody to secure the area.

More than 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions are discovered each year in Germany, more than 70 years after the end of the war.

British and American warplanes pummelled the country with 1.5 million tonnes of bombs that killed 600,000 people. Officials estimate that 15 per cent of the bombs failed to explode, some burrowing six metres (20 feet) deep.

Residents were instructed to leave their homes by 8 a.m. local time [0600 GMT], and more than a thousand emergency service workers helped to clear the area. Police set up cordons at a 1.5 km (roughly a mile) radius around the device.

Many residents left town. Others spent time in cafes on the edge of the evacuation zone. Museums were free, and many hotels offered discounts. The city set up a temporary shelter at Frankfurt's trade fair site, serving bananas and beverages.

The device was found last week in the city's leafy Westend neighbourhood, home to many wealthy bankers.

Premature babies and intensive care patients had to be evacuated along with everyone else from two hospitals and rescue workers helped about 500 elderly people leave residences and care homes.

Bomb disposal experts used a special system to try and unscrew the fuses attached to the HC 4,000 bomb from a safe distance. If that had failed, a water jet would have been used to cut the fuses.

The bomb was dropped by Britain's Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 war, city officials said.

In July, a kindergarten was evacuated after teachers discovered an unexploded World War Two bomb on a shelf among some toys.

Three police explosives experts in Goettingen were killed in 2010 while preparing to defuse a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb.</s>Bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge Second World War bomb in the German financial capital Frankfurt that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents, police said.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany's biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 1,100lb US bomb on Saturday.

Officials ordered residents to evacuate their homes within a mile radius of the site in Germany's financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.
Large portions of Frankfurt, Germany, are evacuated as local authorities work to defuse a bomb left over from a Royal Air Force raid during World War II. The evacuation is the largest to occur in Europe since World War II.