Aerial bomb defused in Hohenschönhausen

War ammunition was discovered during construction work in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen on Wednesday morning.

After the discovery of an aerial bomb from the Second World War in Hohenschönhausen, thousands of people had to leave their homes on Wednesday.

A total of about 7,800 Berliners were affected, according to a police spokesperson. The bomb had been discovered on a construction site on Wednesday morning - by late evening it had finally been defused. Afterwards, people were allowed to return to their homes. Three schools were available as emergency shelters. There were delays in the evacuation, among other things, because several people with walking difficulties had to be transported to the shelters.

180 police officers deployed

According to the police, the dud was 60 by 30 centimetres and probably a Russian aerial bomb. According to the police, two furniture stores, two day-care centres, two schools and a hardware store were located in the 500-metre radius around the site where the bomb was found on Landsberger Allee in Hohenschönhausen. The bomb was discovered on a construction site on Wednesday morning. It was then examined by forensic experts. According to a spokeswoman, 180 police officers were deployed. They went from door to door and drove through the streets with loudspeaker trucks. The police also called on people to leave the exclusion zone on Twitter..

Numerous finds of ammunition in Berlin

According to the police, Berlin's explosives experts are called out on average about two to three times a day to find ammunition or bombs. In 2021 alone, 52 tonnes of war ammunition were found. Almost 80 years after the end of the war, the Berlin Senate estimates that there are still more than 4,500 unexploded bombs in the city's soil. During World War II, the US, British and Russians dropped more than 45,000 tonnes of explosives on the city, according to historians.