Undefined Explosive Device (UED) event in Potsdam area, Germany on Tue 16th June 2026

Around 6,500 residents of the German city of Potsdam, southwest of Berlin, have been forced to leave their homes this Tuesday after an unexploded World War II bomb was located.

Emergency teams ordered the evacuation around 8:30 a.m. (local time), after going through nearby homes and notifying residents of the affected area door-to-door, according to authorities.

As a preventive measure, rail traffic has been interrupted in a large part of the municipality and a security perimeter of 700 meters has been established around the point where the device was found during construction work in the center of Potsdam.

Given the situation, security forces have deployed specialized units in explosives disposal, which have begun a technical operation that could last approximately one hour.

These types of incidents remain relatively frequent in Germany even though more than 80 years have passed since the end of the conflict, as these bombs often appear during construction work and necessitate the organization of large evacuations.