In the Cologne district of Lindenthal, an American ten-ton bomb from World War II will be defused on Monday. This requires the evacuation of the St. Elisabeth Hospital as well as all schools and daycare centers in the affected area. The city administration has established a radius of 500 meters around the bomb site, within which 4,100 residents must leave their homes.
A city spokesperson stated that more than 100 ambulance trips will be necessary to transport patients to nearby hospitals. The transport of eleven intensive care patients who require ventilation is particularly challenging. The hospital has already announced that examination appointments and surgeries will need to be canceled.
The city of Cologne is asking parents to prepare for the closures of schools and daycare centers. A reception center for evacuated residents will be set up at a nearby secondary school, which will open at 9:00 AM. Classes at this school will also be canceled.
The exact time for residents to return to their homes is still unclear, as there is no fixed schedule for the defusing operation. In North Rhine-Westphalia, hundreds of unexploded ordnance from World War II are discovered each year, often during construction work or through the analysis of aerial photographs.
