Overview
- City authorities and the Kampfmittelbeseitigungsdienst established a 400‑metre danger zone after a member of the public spotted a US five‑centner World War II bomb at the Rheinpark in Cologne‑Deutz.
- Roughly 360 people were evacuated, most of them residents of the Vincenz‑Haus senior facility, and the city set up a shelter point in the Marienhospital visitor cafeteria during the operation.
- RTL and ntv moved production plans—'RTL Aktuell' aired from Berlin while ntv used a mobile studio near the Hyatt—because the broadcasters’ Cologne studios sat inside the cordoned area.
- Authorities regained clearance shortly before 18:30 on Thursday and the KBD successfully defused the device at about 18:53, after which road and riverfront closures were gradually lifted and residents were allowed to return.
- Officials said low Rhine water levels have increasingly exposed buried wartime ordnance in the region, and the operation was complicated when an unidentified motorboat entered the secured zone during final stages but could not be tracked down.