Cologne in the state of emergency: bomb defusing forces evacuation!

Cologne in the state of emergency: bomb defusing forces evacuation!

Cologne is experiencing an extraordinary situation that the city has been in mind since 8 a.m. The largest evacuation since World War II is underway after three duds from the Second World War were discovered during exploratory work on the Deutz shipyard. Among them are two American 20-centers bombs and a ten-tone bomb, all equipped with highly dangerous surcharge. These finds have caused the city administration and the ordnance disposal service to be alerted in order to defuse the bombs as soon as possible. The BILD reports that around 20,500 people are affected by the evacuation, since the danger area in the old town in a radius of 1,000 meters is removed was.

Within this area, there are many important facilities, including 58 hotels, a clinic, nine schools and a variety of museums and restaurants. The Cologne Messe/Deutz station, the Lanxess Arena and various urban offices are also affected. It is particularly noteworthy that the live broadcast "Point 7" of the TV station RTL was canceled; The employees are now working in the mobile office in Berlin. This shows how extensive the measures for the safety of the population are. The Tagesschau emphasizes that some weddings have been moved to Porz in the historic town hall.

evacuation and contact points

The evacuation affects not only residents, but also working people who work in the affected areas. The train and tram traffic in Cologne experiences significant restrictions, so that many commuters are affected by the closures. Roads were set up and it is urgently advised to avoid the inner city area. In addition, three Rhein-Brücken, the Hohenzollern, the Severins and the Deutzer Brücke, are closed to traffic, while Cologne Central Station is still available around the clock. The City of Cologne has set up special contact points for the evacuated: right bank of the Rhine in the exhibition hall 10.1 and Linkrheinisch in the Humboldtstrasse vocational college 101. Both starting points were opened at 8 a.m.

The evacuation is not only a logistical effort, but also presents the residents with a variety of challenges. Pets must not be brought to the contact points and uncertainty remains over the time of the bomb defusing. Citizens are asked to contact the citizens' phone at 0221/221-0 or 115 for information. The WDR reports on the situation in several special editions to keep the Cologne up to date.