Bomb (Air Delivered) event in North Rhine-Westphalia, Cologne area, Germany on Thu 5th October 2023

Cologne - During exploratory work, a World War II bomb was found in downtown Cologne on Thursday afternoon (October 5th) . The dangerous unexploded bomb, which dates back to the Second World War, was found in the inner green belt between Innere Kanalstrasse, Vogelsanger Strasse and Schmalbeinstrasse / Albrecht-Dürer-Platz ("Carola-Williams-Park") in the city center (border with Ehrenfeld). It is an American ten hundredweight bomb with a rear impact detonator that needs to be defused. To do this, the danger area must be cordoned off and evacuated. The explosive ordnance disposal service of the Düsseldorf district government (KBD) and the Cologne city public order office are on site This decides accordingly on further measures for closure and evacuation. The final danger zone was determined by the KBD with a final radius of 500 meters. Around 5,400 people were affected by evacuations. Update, October 6th. 6 a.m.: Bomb successfully defused The ten quintal World War bomb was defused by the Düsseldorf district government's explosive ordnance disposal service. The dud has already been removed. All closures were gradually lifted. The residents were then able to return to their houses and apartments. Sick or disabled people were brought back in ambulances. All public transport can run again without restrictions. Update, 10:26 p.m.: Clearance for defusing has been granted. Clearance was given to defuse the World War II bomb. Update, 10:09 p.m.: Second ringing before completion - closure of the airspace requested The public order office's second bell tour will be completed shortly. In addition, a request was made to air traffic control to close the airspace over the location where the bomb was found from 10 p.m. Federal police forces are currently clearing the platforms at Cologne-West station in the evacuation area. Rail traffic on the route between Cologne-West and Cologne-South will be stopped for a short time while the defusing takes place. The clearance for defusing will be announced shortly. Update, 9:13 p.m.: Defusing continues: Evacuation process disrupted by unruly people The public order office's second bell tour is still ongoing because the evacuation process is being disrupted at various points in the danger area by unruly people. They either don't want to leave their homes or break through barriers and run into their houses. In addition, patient transport is difficult. Update, 7:38 p.m.: Inner Kanalstrasse is closed At around 7:20 p.m., the public order office employees finished ringing the bell for the first time. In addition, the emergency services have been busy since 7.30 p.m. closing Inner Kanalstrasse between Venloer Strasse in the north and Aachener Strasse in the south. The public order office will soon begin the second bell tour of the evacuation area. So far, 18 patient transports have been registered, some of which have already been completed. There are currently more than 50 people in the contact point in the barrier-free hall on the ground floor of the DITIB Central Mosque, and the number continues to rise. Furthermore, the KVB buses on line 142 have been redirected since 7:20 p.m. Instead of going via Universitätsstrasse and Innere Kanalstrasse, these now drive along Luxemburger Strasse and from there onto the Sülz belt. Update, 5:29 p.m.: First ringing has begun The public order office started ringing the bell for the first time around 4 p.m. All people are asked to leave the evacuation area. In the subsequent second ring of the bell, the public order office ensures that everyone has left the evacuation area. As soon as this has happened and the patient transport has been completed, the public order office will give clearance for defusing. A contact point for evacuated residents will be set up in the DITIB Central Mosque, Venloer Straße 160, 50823 Cologne. Access to the large hall is via Venloer Straße or via the parking lot on Fuchsstraße. Shoes don't have to be taken off. Dogs can only be brought on a leash, cats please in transport boxes. First report: October 5th, 3:34 p.m.; last updated: October 6th 6am