exclusion zone
Berlin is evacuated for bomb disposal with far-reaching consequences
Police officers look at the site of a war bomb in Berlin. photo
© Paul Zinken/dpa
An area of 350 meters around the site of a World War II bomb is closed. This also leads to impairments in local transport.
Thousands of people have had to leave their homes and jobs since this morning to defuse a World War II bomb near the Ostbahnhof in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district. From 8:00 a.m., the police set up a restricted area with a diameter of 350 meters around the site where the bomb was found on Krautstrasse.
“All persons within this area are requested to exit,” police wrote on Twitter this morning, where they also posted a photo of the bomb.
If everything goes according to plan, the evacuation of the area could be completed around 11 a.m. The 100-kilogram bomb could then be defused around 2 p.m. and the closures lifted again.
The railway line between Ostbahnhof and Jannowitzbrücke is also within the restricted area, but not the Ostbahnhof. Rail traffic between Ostbahnhof and Alexanderplatz should be affected from 10 a.m. The route will probably no longer be used from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the railway said. The S-Bahn traffic is canceled, the passengers should switch to the Ringbahn, subways or buses. Regional trains, ICEs and ICs will be diverted.
Accommodation was set up in the Mercedes-Benz hall at Ostbahnhof.