Jan 8, 2005
U.S. Bomb From World War II Found Buried on Grounds of German Hospital; Town, Patients Evacuated
The Associated Press
BERLIN (AP) - Some 5,000 residents of a Berlin suburb were evacuated from their homes Saturday while explosives experts defused a 550-pound U.S. bomb believed dropped during the last months of World War II, police said.
Much of downtown Potsdam was sealed off and hundreds of stores and businesses were closed to allow for the removal of the bomb, which was found during excavation work on the grounds of a hospital.
Nearly 500 of the hospital's patients were brought to a gymnasium for about six hours while disposal experts defused the bomb, police said. Other residents waited in schools and other gymnasiums.
Potsdam is the capital of Brandenburg state, which surrounds Berlin, and is the former residence of Prussian kings.
Based on historical records, city officials believe the bomb was dropped in April 1945, about a month before the war's end.
Nearly 60 years after the end of World War II, unexploded bombs dropped during Allied air raids across Germany are still discovered and disposed of.
AP-ES-01-08-05 1337EST
This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBWZ355Q3E.html
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