German City Evacuates Because of WWII Bomb

Host Lisa Mullins talks to “Stars and Stripes” reporter Mark Patton about the evacuation this weekend of about 45,000 people in Koblenz, Germany. The city needs to defuse World War II bombs recently discovered in the Rhine river.

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Lisa Mullins: I’m Lisa Mullins and this is The World. The German city of Koblenz is known for its wine, its beer and its mineral water. So you might just think the big event this Sunday involving tens of thousands of people might have something to do with partying. Well, it doesn’t. The German army is planning to diffuse a 4,000 bomb. The bomb and some other unexploded ordinance were discovered last week in the Rhine River in Germany. About 45,000 people are gonna have to be evacuated in case any of the devices explode. Mark Patton is covering the story for the independent military newspaper, Stars and Stripes. A 4,000 pound bomb, Mark, with 3,000 pounds of explosives, where did this particular one come from?

Mark Patton: This bomb was dropped on the city by the Royal Air Force during WWII.

Mullins: The British Royal Air Force in WWII, so it’s been there for like 65-70 years sitting in the Rhine River?

Patton: Absolutely, but one reason it’s just now coming to surface is the Rhine River has, it’s at its lowest level it’s been in almost 100 years, according to the German press. So with the severe lack of rain you know, the WWII bombs are starting to surface.

Mullins: You mean there have been others as well?

Patton: There have been others. It’s not uncommon at all in Germany for unexploded ordinance from WWII to surface. You know, three instances I can think of just in the last couple of months around this area. And there’s also last year, just to emphasize that these things can still be dangerous, three explosives experts with the German government were killed trying to diffuse one of these. This was a 2,000 pound bomb.

Mullins: The big bomb itself, how big is it?

Patton: It’s definitely a big boy. It’s 4,000 pounds and the press release issued by the city said it’s about 10 feet long.

Mullins: 10 feet.

Patton: Right.

Mullins: How does one move a 10 foot, 4,000 pound bomb?

Patton: They’re not gonna move it before they diffuse it. They actually already setup about 350 large sandbags around the bomb to try to form a dam around the bomb. And they’ve already started to try and pump some water out around it because part of the challenge for the bomb disposal experts is actually reaching the area they need to in order to diffuse it, because it’s lying now in 16″ of water and part of that in mud. And the Germans plan on diffusing an American bomb that was actually found with the British one. And this is about a 270 pound bomb, so they actually think this one is going to be more challenging to diffuse than the larger bomb.

Mullins: So describe first what’s gonna be happening on Sunday.

Patton: Okay, Sunday, the city of Koblenz is evacuating about 45,000 people. And you’re talking about a total population in the city of 106,000 roughly, so a pretty major evacuation. And they’re gonna start the mandatory evacuation at 9AM. They’re also evacuating some local hospitals as well as a prison.

Mullins: Where are all these people gonna go?

Patton: The residents, they’re going to go to evacuation centers that the city set up. The hospital patients, they’re going to be transferred to other medical facilities temporarily. And the prisoners are also going to be housed temporarily in other security establishments. And the city is advising people to shutter their windows, take medical supplies and take their food, similar to what back in the US what officials would recommend people to do in the event of a hurricane.

Mullins: Bombs rained down on Germany during WWII, but is there any notion of when these particular bombs might have fallen?

Patton: There’s really not because the city of Koblenz was heavily bombed during WWII. It served as the headquarters of some pretty high ranking German army officials. The city was destroyed, so it’s hard to pinpoint or it’s hard for the officials to pinpoint a year during WWII.

Mullins: Mark Patton, reporter with Stars and Stripes in Wiesbaden, Germany, thanks a lot.

Patton: Thanks for having me, always a pleasure.

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