World War bomb discovered in Karlsruhe: Defusal planned for the same day

As a precaution, the surrounding area was cordoned off over a wide perimeter. The freight rail yard had already been closed, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported, citing information from the city. Residents in the immediate vicinity of the find site also had to leave their apartments and houses while the defusal was underway.

Closures and evacuation

The find site is located in the Südstadt not far from Stuttgarter Straße, between the main railway station and the area along the rail tracks. The location is therefore also within reach of several major traffic arteries that carry rail and road traffic toward Pforzheimer Straße and toward the French border.

On Tuesday morning, the authorities set up a contact point for people who were unable to stay with relatives or acquaintances during the closure. Firefighters, police, and rescue services were deployed, according to the city.

Procedure of the explosive ordnance disposal service

The city administration announced that, once the defusal was completed, it would gradually reopen the cordoned-off area and resume rail traffic at the freight yard as quickly as possible. When the main railway station would be fully served again initially remained unclear.

The Baden-Württemberg explosive ordnance disposal service is the central state agency responsible for rendering harmless unexploded ordnance from the two World Wars. In the region, duds are regularly discovered during construction and earthworks, particularly in city districts that were heavily bombed in the past.

Background: Duds in Baden-Württemberg

Just in June, a similar explosive device from World War II was found during excavation work on a construction site in Mannheim and was safely defused the same day. In other Baden-Württemberg cities such as Stuttgart and Pforzheim, there have also been repeated finds in recent years.

Citizens were urged to give the cordoned-off area a wide berth, to follow official guidance from the city, and to call emergency services in the event of an emergency. After the end of the defusal, all closed streets and paths were to be re-entered only after express clearance by the emergency services.