More than 54,000 people have been forced to leave home on Christmas day in Germany’s biggest evacuation since the Second World war.
The unexploded ‘blockbuster’ bomb from World War II has been found in the southerly city of Augsburg. This means all residents living within a mile radius are forced to leave homes while the device is defused.
The massive British aerial bomb was the largest ever dropped by the RAF, weighing 1.8 tonnes has been discovered on a construction site in the city.
The evacuation was put in to place at about 8am on Christmas Day, with the area to be completely cleared by 10am, involving around 900 police officers in total.
And at three minutes past, the police force tweeted: ‘It is 10.00 am – To all who are still in the protection zone – this is now to be left immediately!
Nearby schools and sports halls, as well as an exhibition centre, have been opened for those unable to stay with relatives or friends.
The evacuation is expected to affect 32,000 households living within a one mile radius.
But it seems not everybody took heed of the warning, as half an hour after the clear out cut-off point the Bavarian Red Cross had to tweet: ‘IMPORTANT! Only when all people have left their homes is the defusing started.’
However, authorities are now suggesting that everything is going according to schedule.
