WWII Bomb Leaves Huge Crater in German Field

Predawn blast shakes residents but causes no injuries
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2019 4:02 PM CDT
WWII Bomb Skakes German Town
Workers inspect the crater Monday in Germany left by a bomb explosion.   (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)

An explosion Sunday in a field in central Germany that left a hole 33 feet wide and 13 feet deep was almost certainly caused by a World War II bomb, disposal experts say. The blast woke residents of the town of Limburg, the BBC reports, and was strong enough to register as a minor earthquake. No one was injured. "The area was used for target practice during the Second World War," a police spokesman said. A government spokesman in the region told Bild, per the Local, that the bomb evidently had a chemical-based delayed timer that could have eroded.

Unexploded bombs often are found throughout the country, left from the Allied bombing of Germany during the war. Most are detonated safely. It is estimated that 10% of the millions of bombs dropped on Germany did not explode. Residents say a railway depot in the Limburg area was an Allied target, and bombs have been found in the area before. "We are lucky that the bomb exploded in a field," a government spokesman said, per the Local. "Many bombs were dropped over cities and airports." About 3,000 people had to be evacuated in Berlin this month while a US bomb was defused. (Even a controlled detonation in April caused widespread damage.)

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