World War II bomb successfully defused in Mainz
Professional schools, Hotels, Companies and the nearby studio of South West Broadcasting Corporation remained closed. According to reports, about 80 people who couldn't leave the area independently were taken to care facilities by aid organizations. The evacuation process was reportedly smooth. Most people who were found there after 9:00 AM reportedly reacted sensibly. A few needed to be persuasively convinced.
More than 300 emergency personnel were on site, a police helicopter hovered over the area. According to reports, the evacuation and clearance area was declared free by the fire department, police, and city ordinance office around 12:20 PM. At 2:10 PM, the success message came in that the bomb had been defused.
Construction of a three-meter high sand wall around the discovery site began on Wednesday. The barriers were supposed to be gradually dismantled from Thursday afternoon. Buses were organized from the evacuation shelter for the affected people to return.
The British World War II bomb, according to police reports, was found in the Mainz district of Hartenberg-Münchfeld during construction work near the World Heritage Site Old Jewish Cemetery on Tuesday evening. A 500-kilogram World War II bomb had to be defused in Mainz at the end of April. About 3500 people had to leave the area for that. Parts of the Johannes Gutenberg University and the University of Applied Sciences were also affected.
- During the Second World War, similar situations arose in Mainz, resulting in the deployment of the fire department to defuse an aerial bomb, just like the one discovered recently.
- The evacuation during the bomb alert on Tuesday evening was managed by both the fire department and the local authorities, reminiscing events from the Second World War when evacuation was a common safety procedure.
- After the successful defusal of the World War bomb, the Fire Department announced that the evacuation shelters could be closed, and residents could return to their homes in the Southwest Broadcasting area, much like the post-evacuation procedures followed during the Second World War.
