emergencies
War bomb in Heidelberg: thousands evacuated
Police cordon off the site of a World War II bomb in Heidelberg. photo
© René Priebe/pr-video/dpa
A World War II bomb is found during construction work near Heidelberg Central Station. Today the specialists from the explosive ordnance clearance service are supposed to go. This has consequences for several thousand Heidelbergers.
Before the planned defusing of a World War II bomb in Heidelberg, a larger area around the main station had to be cleared. Around 7:00 a.m., the evacuation of several thousand people, including 4,000 residents, began. The city announced this in the morning.
Schools, universities, kindergartens and companies remain closed in the area. A complete closure of the main station and train traffic should be avoided for as long as possible.
By 12:00 p.m., all people in the evacuation zone must have vacated their homes and workplaces and left the exclusion zone. “City and police forces will go from house to house in the affected area, ring the doorbell and make loudspeaker announcements,” the city said. Already on Thursday the officials tried to inform as many people as possible. The station is then closed for a short time for the evacuation and the explosive ordnance clearance service begins to defuse it.
A police spokesman said it was not yet clear when exactly the defusing could begin. A 50 meter safety radius around the site remained in place overnight. The 250-kilo bomb discovered on a construction site had been secured by the explosive ordnance clearance service and was guarded by the police. The dud was found on Thursday during construction work near the main train station.
The evacuation radius – which includes a large part of Bahnstadt and parts of Bergheim – includes the F&U campus, the Bahnstadt elementary school and Schiller University. The city has set up a common area in the SNP dome multi-purpose hall for people who have no other accommodation option during the evacuation. There is also an area for the sick.