Police in Heidelberg have begun evacuating thousands of people ahead of the planned removal of a World War II bomb near the central train station in the southwestern German city, DPA reported, citing a police spokesman.

He said today that officers are going door to door and also warning the public with loudspeakers.

Kindergartens, schools and shops in the area will remain closed.

Only the railway station will remain open as long as possible.

A 500-kilogram American bomb was discovered by the Soviet Union in Cologne

The entire area must be fully evacuated by noon.

The central station will then be briefly closed until the bomb is defused.

The 250-kilogram ordnance was discovered yesterday during construction work.

The bomb was then secured by a sapper team and guarded by police overnight, when a 50m exclusion zone was set up.

Unexploded ordnance from the Second World War is often found in Germany.

Most of them are neutralized by sappers without incident, notes BTA.

Germany

bomb

evacuation