Bomb (Air Delivered) event in Lower Saxony, Gšttingen area, Germany on Sun 31st July 2022

Dud blasts: everything went smoothly in Gšttingen Status: 07/31/2022 1:42 p.m After the detonation of five World War II bombs in Gšttingen on Saturday, the city draws a positive balance. Neither people nor buildings were harmed. Mayor Petra Broistedt (SPD) spoke of a "sensational" result - especially given the number of bombs. "Everyone did an excellent job. That also applies to the people behind the scenes," said Broistedt. Christian Schmetz, first city councilor and head of the task force, made a similar statement. At the same time, he pointed to the high probability that further bomb clearances will take place in the city in the near future. "It is massive what we still have to work through in Gšttingen. But we will continue on this path," said Schmetz. Around 80 suspicious points have been checked in the city for months. The investigations would continue for years, it said. Demolitionist: "Everything worked one hundred percent" On Saturday, five suspected sites in the western part of Gšttingen were uncovered and checked by ordnance experts. Around 10,000 residents had previously been evacuated from the area. As it turned out during the course of the day, all five cases involved duds with long-term detonators from the Second World War. The five ten-hundredweight bombs could not be defused, they were detonated in a controlled manner late in the evening. Three dull bangs were heard across much of the city - only three because three of the five bombs were so close together that they had to be detonated at the same time. Drone images showed water fountains shooting into the evening sky. This was a consequence of the safety measures: in order to dampen the explosions, the sites had been covered with tens of thousands of liters of water in sacks. An adjoining hall was shielded, among other things, with a wall made of overseas containers. "Everything worked one hundred percent," said demolition expert Marcus Rausch. He spoke of an extraordinary effort.