Authorities in the German city of Cologne have evacuated three hospitals and thousands of homes after the discovery of an unexploded second world war bomb during construction work on a new medical campus.
The 1,000kg US aerial bomb, equipped with a front and rear impact detonator, is due to be defused on Friday.
A complex evacuation procedure had been in the planning since excavation work on the site began about six months ago, owing to well-founded fears that unexploded ordnance would be discovered there.
Pretty much business as usual. Those things pop up every once in a while, which is why Germany has no shortage of experienced bomb disposal experts.
And yes, the fact that this is perfectly mundane is chilling if you think about it. That’s how intensely bombed areas work for decades. Battlefields don’t turn back to normal when the war is over. And we casually do this all over the world for a large number of usually stupid reasons.