WWII bomb found at Dusseldorf Airport

An Airbus of German airline "Air Berlin" lands on the runway on August 3, 2015 in Duesseldorf. Picture: Patrik Stollarz

An Airbus of German airline "Air Berlin" lands on the runway on August 3, 2015 in Duesseldorf. Picture: Patrik Stollarz

Published Nov 2, 2015

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Dusseldorf - The discovery of an unexploded World War II bomb at Dusseldorf Airport led to the cancellation of seven flights on Monday, officials said.

The ordnance, which was found overnight near the runway of Germany’s third largest airport, was safely detonated by bomb disposal experts.

Two departures and five arrivals were cancelled during the controlled explosion, airport spokesman Christian Hinkel said, but airport operations were otherwise unaffected.

Sandbags were heaped around the site to dampen the force of the blast.

Unexploded bombs dating back to the aerial bombardments of Germany during World War II are still frequently found.

Many local authorities have teams working full-time to detect and defuse them.

The biggest evacuation in Germany since the end of the war took place in 2011, when 45 000 people were forced to temporarily leave parts of Koblenz for the disposal of an unexploded Allied bomb.

DPA

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