Status: 07/30/2022 11:45 p.m
After a large-scale evacuation operation, explosives experts defused five dud bombs from the Second World War in Göttingen on Saturday. The blast in the late evening was apparently successful. The evacuation area has been closed.
During the course of the day, duds with long-term detonators from the Second World War were found at all five suspect sites in Göttingen. The five ten hundredweight bombs then had to be detonated in a controlled manner late in the evening. According to the city, the process was successful. At around 11:15 p.m., the hour-long closure of the evacuation area was lifted. Only then were the residents allowed to return to their homes. The city was relieved that the blast apparently did not cause any significant damage. “In daylight on Sunday there will be another detailed assessment,” announced city spokesman Dominik Kimyon in an interview with NDR Info.
Evacuation was delayed by several hours
Around 10,000 residents had to leave their homes early on Saturday morning. There were already delays in the morning hours: Actually, everyone should have left the evacuation area by 6 a.m. But hours later, according to the city, several people were sighted in the restricted area. Around 10 a.m. it was reported that the area had been completely cleared. But it didn’t stop there: Because people were reported again later, the explosive ordnance clearance workers had to interrupt their work twice in the morning and the police checked the restricted area.
The train station was also cleared
Emergency services had been going door to door since early morning to check whether residents had left their homes. Two drones and a police helicopter were also used. The train station was cleared and closed at around 7 a.m. Deutsche Bahn diverted long-distance trains over a wide area. Many roads were closed. The restricted area had a radius of 1,000 meters. The Göttingen public transport company GöVB will resume regular operations on Sunday from 6 a.m.
Around 1,800 emergency services from the police, fire brigade, THW, rescue services and other aid organizations were on duty over the weekend for work related to evacuation and security. The Göttingen police were supported by hundreds from all over Lower Saxony.