On Wednesday, the German city of Cologne began its largest evacuation since 1945, as it closed a large part of the city center to nullify the effect of 3 American bombs from the remnants of World War II.
More than 20 thousand people will have to leave their homes within a radius of a thousand meters around the site of finding bombs in the Deuts neighborhood.
“This evacuation is the largest procedure since the end of World War II. All concerned hope that the bombs will be complete during Wednesday,” wrote Cologne on its website.
A city spokeswoman told German News Agency that it is not yet possible to set the date for the start of the process of defusing explosives, explaining that the first examination of the evacuation of the population will take several hours, after which some reviews will be conducted.
Road barriers have been installed since 8 am local time), and officials are achieved whether all homes are empty.
Kai Colchivski, head of the explosive munition department in the Dusseldorf province administration, said in statements to West Germany Radio (Diplio de R).
He added: “The entire matter depends on the success of the evacuation process, the extent of the population’s commitment to the rules, and the extent of the departure of the evacuation area, only when no one remains inside the area actually, our employees can start their work.”
Colchiesky noted that throughout the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, between 1500 and 2000 bombs of World War II were removed, including about 200 bombing of large size, such as those currently found in Cologne.
Ralph Maeer, head of the Cologne Public Office in Cologne, said in statements to the German “AD” station that downtown Cologne is the most dense in Europe in terms of population, noting that a hospital and Darin for the elderly and many museums and the RTL TV station is located inside the evacuation area.
The German railway company “Deutsche Ban” announced a stopping of transportation in some stations, the conversion of the path of some trains and the abolition of some flights.
The maritime transport movement is also to be suspended on the River Rhine temporarily, and to close the airspace for a short period throughout the duration of the bombs.
