World War bomb in Frankfurt defused after evacuation

More than 60,000 forced out of homes as authorities deal with British explosive

Bomb disposal experts have successfully defused a huge second World War bomb in the German financial capital Frankfurt that forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents, police said.

Hospital patients and the elderly were among those affected in what was Germany’s biggest evacuation in recent history.

Similar operations are still common 72 years after the war ended. About 20,000 people were evacuated from the western city of Koblenz before specialists disarmed a 400kg US bomb on Saturday.

Construction workers found the 1.4-tonne British bomb on Tuesday.

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Officials ordered residents to evacuate their homes within a mile radius of the site in Germany’s financial capital.

Dozens of ambulances lined up early Sunday to pick up anyone unable to independently leave the danger zone.

AP