01:33Germany: Three WWII BOMBS defused in Potsdam
Three undetonated WWII bombs were found and defused by the weaponry removal service of the State of Brandenburg Thursday morning, with the area around the Templiner Lake in Potsdam blocked off for traffic.
Mike Schwitzke, a detonation expert, defused one 500 kg (1,102 pounds) bomb of British origin and two 250 kg (551 pounds) American bombs that were found within a radius of 1.5 km (0.93 miles) total. After removing the fuse, Schwitzke detonated them under supervision. The restricted area had a radius of 450 metres (1,476 feet).
The actual bombs are to be transported to the nearby Kummersdorf-Gut, where they will be inspected, stored and destroyed in the future. Traffic and public transport to Berlin was disrupted from 08:30 until 11:18 Thursday morning. No evacuations had to take place. The process went as expected, according to Schwitzke.
This was the fourth time WWII bombs had been either defused or detonated in Potsdam this year alone. The weaponry removal team already calls 2015 "the year of the bombs."
01:33Three undetonated WWII bombs were found and defused by the weaponry removal service of the State of Brandenburg Thursday morning, with the area around the Templiner Lake in Potsdam blocked off for traffic.
Mike Schwitzke, a detonation expert, defused one 500 kg (1,102 pounds) bomb of British origin and two 250 kg (551 pounds) American bombs that were found within a radius of 1.5 km (0.93 miles) total. After removing the fuse, Schwitzke detonated them under supervision. The restricted area had a radius of 450 metres (1,476 feet).
The actual bombs are to be transported to the nearby Kummersdorf-Gut, where they will be inspected, stored and destroyed in the future. Traffic and public transport to Berlin was disrupted from 08:30 until 11:18 Thursday morning. No evacuations had to take place. The process went as expected, according to Schwitzke.
This was the fourth time WWII bombs had been either defused or detonated in Potsdam this year alone. The weaponry removal team already calls 2015 "the year of the bombs."