Unexploded World War II bomb found in Dresden, Germany, prompting thousands to evacuate

Large parts of Dresden’s Old Town were evacuated on Wednesday as experts sought to defuse an unexploded World War II bomb found during clearance work for a collapsed bridge.

Some 17,000 people were asked to leave their homes in the eastern German city, authorities said.

The affected area includes the famous Frauenkirche, a church that was rebuilt brick-for-brick after being destroyed in the war, as well as several hotels.

The Carola Bridge, one of Dresden’s main Elbe river crossings, partly collapsed in the middle of the night in September 2024.

The entire structure is due to be demolished by October.

Around 80 years after the war, Germany remains littered with unexploded ordnance, often uncovered during construction work.

Over 20,000 people were evacuated from central Cologne in June after three unexploded U.S. bombs from World War II were found, the biggest such operation in the city since the end of the war. City authorities said that the discovered unexploded ordnances were two American 20-ton bombs and one American 10-ton bomb, each with impact fuses.

The heart of the city was left deserted, with a hospital, two old people’s homes, nine schools and a TV studio evacuated.

The bomb found in Dresden was British-made and weighs 250 kilograms, according to city authorities.

Bombs from World War II have been discovered on battlefields and cities around the world where fighting took place, often decades after the war ended. In March, a World War II bomb was found near the tracks of Paris’ Gare du Nord station. In February, more than 170 bombs were found near a children’s playground in northern England. And in October 2024, a World War II bomb exploded at a Japanese airport.