Frankfurt starts evacuation before attempt to defuse WWII bomb

[Gerald]

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Frankfurt emergency service staff started to evacuate patients from two hospitals in Germany’s financial capital on Saturday ahead of the planned defusing of a massive World War Two bomb.

Some 60,000 people have to leave their homes early on Sunday in Germany’s biggest evacuation since the war while officials disarm the 1.4 tonne British bomb.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-frankfurt-evacuation/frankfurt-starts-evacuation-before-attempt-to-defuse-wwii-bomb-idUSKCN1BD0II

A big object.:o

[Eichhörnchen]

Nicknamed by the British a "Wohnblockknacker"! :har::har::har:

[Skybird]

Over 60 thousand have been moved out. Biggest evacuation in Germany since WWII.

Defusing is underway since several hours. Three igniters have been disarmed, but the remaining two showed to be more tricky than expected and cannot be removed. It seems they need to transport the bomb away with that stuff still attached. Its 18 pm local time right now, they say residents will not be able to return to their homes before midnight. If you sit on 1.8 tons of explosives, you want to be sure of what you are doing - it has become a very complicated task, they will need several more hours.

Some weeks ago, two bombs were disarmed 500m away from my home, but not so big ones. The place was a meadow now turning into a construciton site for building houses. Last year the brandnew from-scratch reconstruction of this city'S central station got delayed due to a suspected bomb (it was none this time). When we lived in Lübeck in the 70s, long time ago, in those five years we had two bomb defusing taling place there. That stuff hides under every bush and tree over here, one sometimes thinks.

And no, I have no dog digging holes and hiding my stuff in them.

[Skybird]

Update, and contradicting news, it seems the bomb now is safe, gets examined for anything unnormal, and must be made transport-secure. The detonators will be exploded right in place and will not get transported away first. But the danger seems to be gone. :up:

[STEED]

All clear. :ping:

[Aktungbby]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/25/Fundort_Luftmine_04_Koblenz_2011.jpg/1024px-Fundort_Luftmine_04_Koblenz_2011.jpgHC 4000 seen being defused in the Rhine near Koblenz 2011.

[Skybird]

Some years ago one of these fellas went of, a smaller one, but still: the whole team of three got killed. Bomb defusing in Germany may be routine: but it is deadly serious.

[Catfish]

"Bombs are better than bolshevism." :03:

[Aktungbby]

Some years ago one of these fellas went of, a smaller one, but still: the whole team of three got killed. Bomb defusing in Germany may be routine: but it is deadly serious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CiAr0ulR18 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CiAr0ulR18) but hey it could be worse. 'Grand Slams' should be confined to tennis and golf: & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRsSDD5U0X8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRsSDD5U0X8)

[Gerald]

Update, and contradicting news, it seems the bomb now is safe, gets examined for anything unnormal, and must be made transport-secure. The detonators will be exploded right in place and will not get transported away first. But the danger seems to be gone. :up: I'm glad at they get away from danger for, the civilian population.:up:

[Jimbuna]

"Bombs are better than bolshevism." :03:

So, do the original owners get it back :hmmm::03:

[Catfish]

^This was a Goebbels quote, justifying the suffering of civilians under the bombardment..

Those bombs were sophisticated, maps being made and marked with colours to highlight the most dense population, which house types were in which blocks to optimise bombing waves for maximum damage, several stages of attacks to first get off the roofs, next wave ignite the interior, another stage with time-delayed bombs that would explode 2-12 hours later for disturbing the rescue, those 'blockbusters' rupturing lungs up to 1000 meters away, and of course booby trap ignitors making the work of defusing difficult. Some info just of all in "The english patient", by Michael Ondaatje.

edit: when we were in Kassel recently for the Documenta (https://www.documenta.de/#), some architect asked for a famous urban planner who had shaped the city in the last decades. I proposed Bomber Harris, which at least got a few laughs.

So you want the bombs back? :D There are still plenty underground, careful estimate is 20 percent did not explode. Next, much worse stop: Laos (http://legaciesofwar.org/about-laos/secret-war-laos/).

[Jimbuna]

So you want the bombs back? :D There are still plenty underground, careful estimate is 20 percent did not explode. Next, much worse stop: Laos (http://legaciesofwar.org/about-laos/secret-war-laos/).

Nah, on second thoughts you can keep em but I sincerely hope there are no further casualties in the future.

[Skybird]

Unfortunately these bombs neither stay in the condition they are in, nor improve - they become less and lesser stable, due to erosion. The experts say the risks are climbing, not stagnating or declining. That is true for both chemical and mechanical detonators.

If you ever visit the Baltic and here the place around island Rügen, be careful in case you see amber washed onto the beaches. It may not be amber, but phosphorus. Every year tourists get hurt by picking it up and it either goes up in flames in their hands, or in their pockets. The phosphorus stems from huge quantities of bombs dumped in the ocean and very close to the beaches. Fishermen have to live with the risk of picking it up in their nets. The stuff comes from bombs in the ocean whose hulls are collapsing and break open.