The Ostkreuz train station and the area around it are a restricted zone: the reason is a 500-kilo World War II bomb that was discovered during construction work. The defusing is currently underway, thousands of people have had to leave their homes.
A World War II bomb was discovered during construction work in Berlin-Friedrichshain and has been defused on site since Thursday evening.
Local residents were previously evacuated, as the Berlin police announced on Twitter. Defusing the bomb is therefore expected to take at least three hours. Around 12,000 people had to leave the area within a radius of 500 meters around the site.
The bomb should then be taken to the Grunewald detonation site, a police spokeswoman told rbb. The bomb was found on Thursday afternoon at a construction site on the corner of Persiusstrasse and Bödikerstrasse.
Ostkreuz station, which is in the restricted area, was closed. On Thursday evening, both the Train [Externer Link]– as well as the long-distance and regional transport [Externer Link] interrupted at Ostkreuz. The BVG is also affected. A replacement bus service could not be set up because of the size of the restricted area, the Berlin traffic information center tweeted. According to the police, ship and air traffic is also interrupted.
Due to numerous road closures, there were long traffic jams. According to the Berlin traffic information center, there are extensive barriers on Stralauer Allee, including the Elsenbrücke.
The 500-kilogram bomb from World War II was discovered during construction work on the corner of Persiusstrasse and Bödikerstrasse, roughly between the Spree and Ostkreuz train station. The police specialists have to defuse them before they can be taken away.
According to the information, there are two detonators on the dud that are to be removed on site using a cutting system with high-pressure water and then blown up.
Broadcast: rbb24 evening show, August 18, 2022, 7:30 p.m