In Germany, the center of Dresden was evacuated due to a World War II bomb.

A bomb disposal team successfully defused the 250kg British bomb, discovered Tuesday during reconstruction work on a bridge partially collapsed in 2024, police announced mid-afternoon.

The bomb disposal experts "removed the detonator" from the projectile, "then detonated it," she said, announcing the lifting of the security perimeter.

Once defused, the bomb will be transported to a collection center to be destroyed, she also indicated.

Bombs had already been found and defused at the site in January and August 2025, each time affecting thousands of people in Dresden, which was very heavily bombed by the Allies on February 13 and 14, 1945.

This time, neutralizing the projectile took almost the entire day, as the bomb disposal experts had to be extra careful due to the poor condition of the detonator.

The evacuation zone was cordoned off around 9 a.m. local time by more than 400 police officers, supported by a helicopter and a drone, to check that houses, shops, schools, retirement homes and offices were empty within a one-kilometer radius.

The evacuation involved major historical sites in the old town known for its Baroque heritage, including the Zwinger Palace and the Church of Our Lady, largely destroyed and then rebuilt long after the war.

Germany remains riddled with unexploded bombs, regularly discovered during construction projects.

On Wednesday, the city of Cologne (west), also heavily bombed and destroyed during the war, announced the discovery, on a suburban road, of a 50 kg American bomb, which was quickly neutralized and whose remains were removed.