Berlin has been placed on alert after a 100-kilogram bomb from World War II was discovered at the bottom of a canal in the Neukölln district, near the busy Sonnenallee.
Authorities immediately established a 500-meter security perimeter and ordered the evacuation of around 5,600 homes. The affected area also includes a nursing home, a homeless shelter and a daycare center.
The bomb was removed from the water and placed on a floating platform. It is expected to be lifted onto the shore by crane, where specialist explosive ordnance teams will work to safely neutralize and dispose of it.
The evacuation operation is expected to take several hours, with temporary accommodation provided for residents who cannot return to their homes during the operation.
The discovery is another reminder that, more than eight decades after World War II, unexploded wartime ordnance remains a serious challenge in Berlin.
