Cologne residents given BRUTAL ultimatum: ‘Leave now or police will DRAG you from your homes’ as bomb squads race to defuse THREE deadly US explosives weighing up to 20 TONS
The German city of Cologne ground to a terrifying halt this morning as more than 20,000 panicked residents fled their homes in the largest evacuation since World War Two – with authorities threatening to forcibly DRAG anyone who refuses to leave.
Three massive unexploded American bombs – two weighing an astonishing 20 TONS each and another 10-ton monster – have transformed the bustling city centre into a ghost town after being discovered during routine construction work.
In scenes not witnessed since the Nazi era, elderly residents were wheeled from care homes, intensive care patients rushed from hospitals in ambulances, and terrified families grabbed their belongings as sirens wailed across the historic city.
THE CHILLING ULTIMATUM
City authorities delivered a bone-chilling warning to any residents thinking of staying put: “If you refuse, we will escort you from your home – if necessary by FORCE – along with the police.
The unprecedented threat underscores the catastrophic danger posed by the three bombs, each fitted with impact fuses that could detonate at any moment if disturbed.
“In that respect, they are dangerous, yes,” admitted bomb disposal chief Kai Kulschewski. “But it’s definitely not the case that we need to panic.”
CITY IN LOCKDOWN
The scale of the evacuation is staggering:
- 20,500 people forced from their homes
- 58 hotels emptied of guests
- 9 schools shut down
- 2 retirement centres evacuated
- 1 major hospital cleared, with intensive care patients moved by ambulance
- Cologne’s second-largest train station closed
- Famous Philharmonic Hall and museums sealed off
The evacuation zone spans a massive ONE KILOMETRE radius in the heart of the city, including the bustling Deutz district just across the Rhine from Cologne’s historic centre.
TRANSPORT CHAOS
The evacuation has caused travel mayhem:
- The heavily-used Hohenzollern railway bridge SHUT
- Rhine shipping SUSPENDED
- Major roads CLOSED
- Cologne’s central station services DISRUPTED
- Access to Cologne Bonn Airport severely impeded
RTL television was forced to abandon its morning news broadcast mid-show, with the anchor grabbing his bag and declaring “We have to leave!” as studio lights were switched off.
WEDDING HEARTBREAK
In heartbreaking scenes, more than a dozen couples scheduled to marry at Cologne’s city hall were forced to relocate their ceremonies at the last minute.
One bride told local media: “We’ve been planning this for two years – and now we’re getting married in a tent because of bombs from 80 years ago!”
THE DEADLY LEGACY
The discovery highlights the terrifying legacy of Allied bombing that still haunts German cities eight decades after the war ended.
During World War Two, Cologne endured:
- 262 air raids by Allied forces
- 20,000 residents killed
- 91 of 150 churches destroyed
- Nearly ALL buildings in the Old Town obliterated
“Every bomb that we find and neutralise is a service to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” said North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul.
BOMB DISPOSAL NIGHTMARE
The three American bombs were discovered on Monday during preparatory work for road construction in a shipyard. Each is fitted with an impact fuse, making them particularly volatile.
Bomb disposal experts cannot even BEGIN their perilous work until the entire area is completely evacuated – a process that could take hours.
“We cannot make any reliable predictions about how long the operation will take,” city officials admitted.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
Shockingly, this isn’t unusual for Cologne:
- October 2024: 10,000 evacuated for another American bomb
- December 2024: 3,000 forced to flee
- 1,606 bombs found in North Rhine-Westphalia state in 2024 alone
- 1,500-2,000 unexploded bombs discovered EVERY YEAR across the state
RESIDENTS FLEE
Despite authorities setting up shelters in exhibition halls and college buildings, most residents took advantage of the sunny weather to flee the city entirely.
Few people have arrived at the shelters,” local media reported, with families instead choosing to spend the day in the countryside rather than wait in evacuation centres.
Office workers were ordered to leave before 8am or avoid the area completely, while those who work in the evacuation zone were told to stay away entirely.
THE TICKING TIME BOMBS
The bombs’ discovery during routine construction work has raised terrifying questions about what other deadly remnants of war lie buried beneath German cities.
Each bomb contains enough explosive power to level entire city blocks, with the two 20-ton monsters among the largest unexploded ordnance ever found in a German city centre.
WHEN WILL IT END?
Authorities say residents won’t be allowed back until bomb disposal experts successfully defuse all three devices – a process that could stretch late into Wednesday night.
“The first bell has sounded. People in the evacuation area have to leave their homes,” the city announced. “It is not possible to predict when the first ringing tour will be completed.”
As Cologne holds its breath, the world watches to see if bomb disposal experts can safely neutralise these 80-year-old instruments of death – or if the ghosts of World War Two will claim more victims in 2025.
DEVELOPING STORY – MORE TO FOLLOW
Timeline of Terror:
- Monday: Bombs discovered during construction
- Tuesday: Evacuation plans announced
- Wednesday 6am: Mass evacuation begins
- Wednesday 8am: Bomb disposal work scheduled to start
- Wednesday evening: Hoped-for completion (if all goes well)
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Image credit: Cologne Germany Rodenkirchener-Brücke-04 by Christoph Rückert, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
