Deadly WWII explosive discovered in Hamburg garage
June 14, 2020
A highly dangerous World War II explosive was found in a garage in the northern German city of Hamburg, police said Sunday.
The explosive was discovered when a flat was being cleared a day earlier. Police closed off an adjacent park and called out the bomb disposal squad to carry out a controlled explosion.
The fire brigade confirmed that the object was a hazardous anti-aircraft grenade detonator with an explosive device.
The bomb disposal squad could not defuse the relic at the scene, and instead had to conduct a controlled blast in an adjacent park.
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Police cordoned off the park and a nearby parking lot at around 5:30 p.m. local time (1530 UTC/GMT) as the hourlong operation got underway.
"The detonator used for anti-aircraft grenades in WWII … has been successfully destroyed. All lockdowns have been lifted," Hamburg fire brigades tweeted.
Nobody was injured in the operation.
The discovery of unexploded World War II bombs in Hamburg and other German cities is not unusual.
The country experienced heavy bombing from Allied forces during the conflict, and explosive devices are frequently unearthed still today, especially at construction sites.
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