German explosive experts defuse an unexploded WWII aerial bomb 

An unexploded World War II bomb forced 18,500 people to evacuate the city of Ludwigshafen, Mannheim.

The 500-kilogramme (1,100-pound) aerial bomb, thought to have been dropped by American forces, was discovered during construction work earlier in the week.  

It took a German bomb disposal team just over an hour to complete the delicate task, and the all-clear was given shortly after a six-hour operation. 

Authorities in the western city had ordered all those living within a 1,000-metre (0.6-mile) radius of the bomb site to leave their homes from 08:00 am (0600 GMT) as a precaution ahead of the defusing operation. 

The city of Ludwigshafen tweeted: ‘Good news: the bomb has been defused! Citizens may return to their homes.’ 

More than 70 years after the end of World War II, Germany still remains littered with unexploded ordnance, a legacy of the intense Allied bombing campaign against Nazi Germany.

Marco from the bomb disposal unit shows the fuse from the aerial bomb found in Mannheim

In the biggest post-war evacuation to date, some 60,000 Frankfurt residents were evacuated last year so that an unexploded 1.8-tonne British bomb dubbed the ‘blockbuster’ could be defused.

In April, thousands had to clear an area around Berlin’s central railway station after another British bomb was discovered on a building site.

Unexploded munitions have also complicated the work of firefighters this summer, with forest fires sparked by a spell of hot, dry weather setting off long-buried ordnance, causing small explosions on several occasions. 

18,500 residents were evacuated from the city while the bomb was delicately diffused 

The town hall in Ludwigshafen, Mannheim opened its doors to evacuated residents for the six hours they remained out of their homes