Overview
- Authorities in Duisburg-Duissern defused a British five‑zentner World War II bomb found near the A40 and began lifting road, rail and river closures.
- The device, discovered during surveying by the A40, carried an impact fuze and led to a 300‑meter evacuation zone that covered about 300 residents.
- The city opened a shelter at Gesamtschule Duisburg‑Mitte and ran DVG shuttle buses while police shut sections of the A3 and A40, a DB freight line and Ruhr shipping.
- Traffic backed up around Kreuz Kaiserberg as the bomb operation coincided with bridge works, with long queues reported on the A3, A40, A42 and A59.
- This week’s finds follow established practice in the Rhine‑Ruhr region, with Köln‑Niehl requiring a 300‑meter evacuation for a successful defusal and Essen completing a defusal in a non‑residential area after gas‑line depressurization delayed the start.