Berlin:Â Bomb disposal experts successfully detonated a 250 kg World War-II bomb in a western Germany city after about 5,000 people were evacuated late Thursday evening, a city spokesman said.
The bomb was found Thursday in Cologne during construction work near the Uni-Centre, a 45-storied apartment building housing about 2,000 people, reported Xinhua.
Because of the tricky construction of the fuse, bomb disposal experts had to opt for a controlled detonation of the bomb, and residents within a radius of 300 metres of the site were evacuated.
Media reports said another World War-II bomb was successfully defused almost at the same time in Neuss, about 40 km northwest of Cologne. More than 1,800 people were evacuated.
Thousands of un-exploded bombs are still believed to be buried in Germany.
On Jan 3, a construction worker manning a digger was killed when he accidentally struck a bomb during excavation work in Euskirchen in Germany’s western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.