Bomb (Air Delivered) event in Ruhr, Oberhausen area, Germany on Thu 13th October 2022

The World War II bomb that paralysed the city and the traffic around it for half the day was successfully detonated on Thursday evening. The preparations were complex. Oberhausen breathed a sigh of relief. Almost 24,000 people were affected by the measures surrounding the bomb blast on Thursday (13.10.2022). It went off successfully. There was no big bang and no cloud of dust - everything went according to plan. Residents are now allowed to return home. The motorway is also to be reopened. Elaborate preparations Earth pit in which the bomb was blown up Pit for bomb blasting The bomb was only detonated in the evening, at around 7:30 pm. A lot had to happen beforehand: It could not be detonated at the Emscherdamm, where the 20-cent bomb from the Second World War was found the day before - the dyke would blow up. A construction company therefore began digging a hole in the ground for the blast as early as Wednesday. Around 1 p.m. the bomb was transported there - with an excavator at walking pace over the dyke. The city of Oberhausen had already predicted that this could take several hours. After three hours, the bomb lay in the eight-metre-deep hole. It was then covered with sand and water pads and finally detonated in a controlled manner. The bomb could not be defused, the city of Oberhausen said. The detonators were broken. More than 4,000 people have to leave their homes Street map showing the location of the bomb and the evacuation radiusEvacuation radius around the bomb The evacuation radius was large. Around 4,000 people had to leave their flats and houses. Preparations had been underway since 9 am. A total of 23,300 people in Oberhausen and Duisburg were affected by the blast. In the danger radius, more than 20,000 people have had to stay in their houses and flats since 12 noon. Motorway and many roads closed The bomb caused traffic chaos in and around Oberhausen even before it was detonated. There were long traffic jams on the A3, as part of the motorway was closed because of the bomb. Between the intersections of Oberhausen and Oberhausen-West, the motorway was closed. Many roads and crossings were also closed. The blast also affected bus and rail traffic. On the route between Oberhausen and Dinslaken, for example, several regional trains were cancelled. We reported on this topic on 13.10.2022 in the WDR Lokalzeit Ruhr.