Thousands of people were evacuated from central Cologne in western Germany on Wednesday (June 4) following the discovery of three wartime bombs, in what the city authority called the largest such operation since the end of World War Two.

An evacuation zone with a radius of 1,000 metres (1,100 yards) was cleared from 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), impacting around 20,500 residents along with many workers and hotel guests in the city's old town and Deutz district.

Three American bombs, each with impact fuses, were found during construction work on Monday (June 2) in Deutz, a bustling area on the bank of the River Rhine.

Bomb disposal experts plan to disarm the ordnance later on Wednesday.

Unexploded bombs are often found in Germany, where many major cities sustained heavy damage during the war.

The evacuation area includes one hospital, two retirement homes, nine schools, and many hotels and museums.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

COLOGNE, GERMANY (JUNE 4, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. CORDONED-OFF AREA, COLOGNE CATHEDRAL IN DISTANCE

2. VARIOUS OF PUBLIC ORDER OFFICERS UNRAVELLING CORDON

3. VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS UNROLLING TAPE

4. VARIOUS OF GROUP OF OFFICIALS WALKING

5. EMERGENCY VEHICLES ON ROAD

6. ROAD SIGN, COLOGNE CATHEDRAL IN DISTANCE

7. (SOUNDBITE) (German) COLOGNE RESIDENT, MARIANNE BOERINGER, SAYING:

"I'm trying to take it in my stride, I'll just tell you one thing: the past always catches up with us and there is no counter-argument. We have to think about our safety and that is just like a natural disaster."

8. VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS PRESSING DOORBELLS

9. OFFICIALS WALKING IN RESIDENTIAL STREET

10. OFFICIALS ENTERING RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

11. OFFICIALS ON RESIDENTIAL STREET

12. VARIOUS OF HEAD OF COLOGNE PUBLIC ORDER OFFICE, RALF MEYER, BEING INTERVIEWED

13. (SOUNDBITE) (German) HEAD OF COLOGNE PUBLIC ORDER OFFICE, RALF MEYER, SAYING:

"The road closures started at 8 a.m. and the doorbell ringing was underway. In this respect..we have very good support from the state police, for which we are very grateful. The Bonn municipal public order service is supporting us, the fire brigade is heavily involved, the emergency services are there. So it is a joint operation that we are carrying out today and I therefore believe that we are well prepared and will be able to carry out the operation quickly. Delays often lie above all in the willingness of local residents to show acceptance. So that's another request. We are doing this to protect people."

14. OFFICIALS BY RAILWAY STATION

15. (SOUNDBITE) (German) HEAD OF COLOGNE PUBLIC ORDER OFFICE, RALF MEYER, SAYING:

"They (the ordnances) are not getting safer in the ground, the objects are exposed to vibrations here, which also shifts the ground. In addition, the bomb is exposed to moisture and then corrosion damage, i.e. rust, is the problem. This can lead to a dud exploding on its own and these are situations that we have to avoid. That's why we always probe in advance of construction work and we found three unexploded ordnance during our probing work. I don't think that's ever happened before."

16. POLICE VEHICLE IN STREET

17. AMBULANCES IN STREET

18. AMBULANCE PARKED AT VEHICLE

19. PERSON ON STRETCHER IN AMBULANCE

20. (SOUNDBITE) (German) EDUARDUS HOSPITAL SPOKESWOMAN, JUDITH KNIEPEN, SAYING:

"There are many major challenges in an evacuation like this and the first is, of course, finding enough capacity for the patients that we actually have to move. This is not a standard situation for this house or the patients. So there were 170 patients here yesterday, and we had to organise this with all the other patients in such a way that the discharge is justifiable from a medical and nursing point of view."

21. PATIENT BEING PUT INTO AMBULANCE

22. AMBULANCES BY HOSPITAL