Cologne evacuates 20,000 so WW2 bombs can be defused

Police are cordoning off large areas of the city

Homes, shops, hotels and schools have been told to evacuate, as well as a large hospital and major train station.

Unexploded ordnance can still pose a danger and the city has sealed off the zone within a 1,000m (3,280ft) radius, in what it described as “the largest operation since the end of WW2”.

The American bombs were discovered on Monday in a shipyard in the Deutz neighbourhood, the city said in a statement.

The German city of Cologne is evacuating some 20,500 people from a large area in the city centre so experts can defuse three unexploded bombs from World War Two.

“If you refuse, we will escort you from your home – if necessary by force – along with the police,” the authorities said.

Residents were told if they refused to leave their homes after the evacuation began they could face expensive fines.

Some intensive care patients were helped out in ambulances from the Eduardus Hospital.

Finding bombs from World War Two is not unusual in German cities such as Cologne and Berlin, but the difference here is that these bombs are particularly large.

Germany’s bomb disposal service plans to diffuse the devices on Wednesday, but it can only be done once all residents in the densely populated area leave for their own safety, the city said.

The evacuation in the Old Town and Deutz neighbourhoods began with officials going door to door to tell people they must leave their homes.

Many of the city’s usually bustling streets were eerily deserted as shops, restaurants and businesses were told to stop operating during the day.

Cultural institutions including the Philharmonic Hall and many museums have been affected, as well as government buildings, 58 hotels, and nine schools.

Transport was severely disrupted, with all roads are closed in the area, many trains cancelled and the Messe/Deutz train station was closed from 08:00 local time (07:00BST).

The authorities have set up two drop-in centres for people who don’t have anywhere to go during the evacuation period.

Residents were told to “stay calm”, bring their ID and any essential medications, and to take care of their pets.

Cologne Bonn Airport said flights would continue as usual but travelling to the airport by train or road may be difficult.

For some people, the evacuation was more than a little inconvenient. Fifteen couples were scheduled to get married at Cologne’s historic town hall but the ceremonies were relocated to a location in another part of the city, local media reported.

Nine-year-old among five killed in attack on German Christmas market

21 December 2024 Share Save Jacqueline Howard BBC News Share Save

Video shows arrest of Magdeburg attack suspect

A nine-year-old child and four adults have been killed after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg. More than 200 people were injured – at least 41 critically – in the attack on Friday evening. A black BMW SUV ploughed 400 metres through the crowded market in an attack that lasted about three minutes. The suspect has been named in local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had worked as a doctor.

Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said on Saturday that the investigation was ongoing but suggested the background to the crime “could have been disgruntlement with the way Saudi Arabian refugees are treated in Germany”. The suspected attacker has no known links to Islamist extremism. His social media and posts appear to suggest he had been critical of Islam. A source close to the Saudi government told the BBC it sent four official notifications known as “Notes Verbal” to German authorities, warning them about what they said were “the very extreme views” held by al-Abdulmohsen. The source, who asked not to be named, said these notifications were ignored. However, another experienced counter-terrorism expert said the Saudis may be mounting a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who tried to help young Saudi women seek asylum in Germany.

Reuters People left floral tributes to the victims near the site in Magdeburg

Al-Abdulmohsen is currently being questioned and prosecutors expect to charge him with murder and attempted murder in due course, the head of the local prosecutor’s office said on Saturday. Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt state, said a preliminary investigation suggested the alleged attacker was acting alone. City officials said around 100 police, medics and firefighters, as well as 50 rescue service personnel, rushed to the scene shortly after 19:00 local time on Friday. Al-Abdulmohsen is thought to have driven into the market through an entry point which was reserved for emergency vehicles, police said. The suspect is a psychiatrist who lived in Bernburg, around 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg. Originally from Saudi Arabia, al-Abdulmohsen arrived in Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognised as a refugee. He ran a website that aimed to help other former Muslims flee persecution in their Gulf homelands.

EPA Families of the victims, emergency workers and government officials attended a memorial service at Magdeburg Cathedral

On Saturday evening, a memorial service was held for victims of the attack at Magdeburg Cathedral. The service was attended by families of the victims, emergency workers and government officials, including German chancellor Olaf Scholz. During a visit to the market earlier on Saturday, Scholz described the attack as a “dreadful tragedy” as “so many people were injured and killed with such brutality” in a place that is supposed to be “joyful”. He told reporters that there were serious concerns for those who had been critically injured and that “all resources” will be allocated to investigating the suspect behind the attack.

Reuters

Witnesses described jumping out of the car’s path, fleeing or hiding during Friday’s attack. In an interview with German paper Bild, Nadine described being at the Christmas market with her boyfriend Marco when the car came speeding towards them. “He was hit and pulled away from my side,” the 32-year-old told the paper. “It was terrible.” Meanwhile, Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight he saw “blood on the floor” as well as “many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries”.

Friday’s incident is not the first time people at a Christmas market have been attacked in Germany. In 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian man who failed to gain asylum in Germany and had links to the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, drove a truck into crowds gathered at a church market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 49 others. Two years later, a gunman opened fire on a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, killing five and injuring another 11 people. The gunman was shot dead by police two days later. Only last month, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser talked about the need for “greater vigilance” at the highly popular markets but said there were no “concrete” indications of danger. She also reportedly pointed to tougher laws on weapons in public spaces following a knife attack in Solingen, west Germany, in August in which three people died.

German authorities in Hanover are evacuating 50,000 residents, or about 10 percent of the city, so experts can safely diffuse five unexploded World War II bombs. The evacuation will begin Sunday, and is expected to be the second largest of its kind in Germany.

This evacuation has been planned for some time, and thousands of people from from nearby cities have come to assist. The government has even scheduled events like museum tours and move viewings to keep residents occupied while they’re a safe distance away from the city.

The bombs are leftover from an Allied forces mission in October 1943 that dropped more than 250,000 bombs in all. Seventy years later and unexploded ordnance from World War II is still a major problem throughout much of the country, especially because as bombs deteriorate they become more dangerous.

The largest bomb-related evacuation came on Christmas day last year, in Augsburg, when about 54,000 people were evacuated after a bomb was found at a construction site. In 2015, 20,000 people in Cologne were also evacuated because of a bomb. In Gottingen in 2010 a bomb exploded and killed three members of the bomb squad attempting to defuse it, and seriously injured two others.

This weekend, trains were rerouted, and others would not stop in Hanover. Hundreds of ambulances were brought into the city to help people leave the area. Within the evacuation zone was a tire plant, seven elderly homes, and a hospital. Residents are expected to be able to return home later in the evening.