Light rail runs again: World War II bomb blown up in downtown Dortmund

A 250 kilogram dud from the Second World War was blown up in a controlled manner in downtown Dortmund.

The world war bomb was discovered and uncovered on Sunday during a planned probing of a suspected site at a large intersection in the inner city ring.

However, it had a damaged detonator, which is why the experts from the ordnance disposal service decided to detonate it in a controlled manner, according to a spokesman for the city of Dortmund.

The entire action therefore lasted from morning to evening.

Around 7200 people from almost 4600 households were affected.

A retirement home and a correctional facility also had to be evacuated.

The city of Dortmund announced on Twitter early on Sunday evening that the demolition had taken place.

She first called on citizens not to return to the evacuation area yet, as the gas and water pipes would have to be checked first.

In the meantime, however, the evacuation area has been opened to pedestrians again.

The city announces that the S-Bahn is also running again.

The evacuation had already started around 8 a.m. in the morning.

With more than 50 patient transports, residents were brought out of the danger area, said the city spokesman.

This does not include the trips to evacuate the affected senior citizens' home.

According to the prison management, more than 200 inmates from the prison had been distributed to other prisons in Bochum, Essen, Cologne and Bielefeld in the past few days.

The last 87 inmates should then be taken to other correctional facilities in the state on Sunday morning.

The bomb search, the planned defusing and the decision to block the system in a controlled manner also had an impact on rail and local traffic in Dortmund. In long-distance traffic, according to Deutsche Bahn, the intercity and ICE routes between Dortmund and Münster and between Dortmund and Hamm were affected. You should only drive with restrictions in the afternoon. The train expected delays. According to the city, the city railways U42, U43, U44 and U46 only run to a limited extent. A rail replacement service was planned.