WWII Bomb Ruins Christmas Morning for German City

More than 54,000 must evacuate Sunday while bomb is defused
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 24, 2016 10:54 AM CST
Germans Must Leave Home Xmas as WWII Bomb Is Defused
Stock image   (Getty Images/DNY59)

More than 54,000 people in the southern German city of Augsburg must leave their homes Christmas morning while authorities defuse a giant 1.8-ton aerial bomb from World War II, the AP reports. The city's medieval cathedral and city hall are in the area to be sealed off. Police said Saturday that no one will be allowed into the surrounding streets from about 8am Sunday and everyone must be out by 10am. Police say it's impossible to say exactly how long it will take to make the bomb safe. Schools are being opened for people who can't stay with relatives or friends. Finding bombs from the war is not unusual in Germany. This evacuation, however, is even bigger than the 45,000 people temporarily evacuated to remove a bomb in Koblenz in 2011. (More bomb stories.)

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